A Slow Trip To Somewhere
by somewhereelsee
Summary: Nathan and Haley have to get to and through college like normal people. All while avoiding the cliches of being the high school sweethearts.
1. Applications

Okay that one shot was actually a departure from the normal for me. Generally I write fluff. Lots and lots of fluff.

This was also posted elsewhere under the working title _Destinations_.

Imagine if Tree Hill was normal: Lucas and Nathan got along, Dan and Deb got a divorce, no one committed cold blooded MURDER, contraceptives did their job, Keith lived, Ravens won state, seniors actually considered multiple colleges, high school progressed at a speed faster than that of a turtle's. There you have the inspiration for this story.

* * *

Nathan rang the doorbell before quickly returning his hands to his pockets. It was late in the winter and he had just finished practice, something that was becoming more of a chore the closer they got to the playoffs. As expected the door swung open wide and he hoped for his girlfriend on the other side. He had told her that he would be over the moment practice ended and hoped that she had been waiting for him.

Lydia laughed at the crestfallen expression on Nathan's face before motioning him in. "Robbie's home so I suggest you leave the door open," she warned, referring to one of her older sons. It was no secret that none of Haley's brothers approved of a Scott boy for their baby sister's first boyfriend. "Oh, and I hope you brought a hard hat," she jokingly called up the stairs to his retreating back.

Nathan made it a point to stop in Robbie's room to say hi to him. He figured that it couldn't hurt being friendly to the insanely overprotective brothers. But then again, alerting them to his presence wasn't one of his brightest ideas. He knocked tentatively on Haley's shut door and then pushed it open, hearing her terse response.

"Close the door," she ordered, barely moving from her position in front of her desk. Confused, Nathan turned to do just that, leaving a gap of a couple inches. He ventured further into her room and was surprised by the mess that lay scattered…everywhere. "What are you doing here?" Haley asked and by the way her eyes moved to her computer clock, he knew she had lost all track of time.

Carefully, Nathan responded slowly, "Practice is over. I thought I told you I was coming by today." He peeked over her shoulder, eager to know what had gotten his normally organized girlfriend completely out of sorts. "Applications?" he asked knowingly, hearing her frustrated sigh.

"More like the bane of my existence. I'm sorry I forgot, Nathan. But I'm really swamped right now. Can you manage without me?" Haley asked, turning and smiling sweetly at him. Nathan dropped his backpack next to her desk and then stretched out on her bed, knowing exactly what she was doing.

"You don't want me here to see you freaking out," he guessed correctly as she sighed. "Haley, it's cool. I get that you aren't perfect. I really do. Now if there's anything I can do to help you get rid of all this stress, id' be more than willing to help out," he offered, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Haley just gave him the look that let him know he'd been busted before pointing towards her door. "If you're just going to sit there and crack jokes, I suggest you get out before this gets bad," she warned. "I don't need any of this crap from you, Mr. Basketball Scholarship. I don't need any distractions right now," she pleaded the last part.

"Hey, I worked damn hard—"

"For the last four years with your dad's legendary status hanging over your head. Sweetie, I know and I sympathize. But now it's my turn to work damn hard so please get out of my room," Haley pointed to the door again and let out a relieved sigh when he sat up and rolled off her bed.

Unexpectedly, Nathan quickly kneeled in front of her chair and grabbed hold of her hands. It was easy to read the panicked look on her face and he laughed slightly, "Relax, I'm not insane. Listen to me, Hales, you've been working damn hard for the past four years to, okay? This is your chance to show everyone else that. Now you've helped me through all those bad games and bad tests so I think it's only fair that I help you now."

"What are you talking about?" Haley questioned tiredly, her eyes suddenly drooping shut.

"Exactly. Maybe it would help if you just talk to me about this. I mean, that's what always makes me feel better, getting to talk to you and knowing that you're listening. Maybe your essays will come easier if you just talk to me," Nathan suggested, guessing that the essays were her main problem.

"We could try," Haley conceded, allowing Nathan to pull her to her feet and guide her to her bed. As they settled with her head resting on his chest, Haley let out a sigh of contentment and Nathan already knew that he was helping.

"Shoot, ask me anything," he prompted when she lay still for too many minutes.

"What are you passionate about?" she mumbled into his chest, her eyes growing heavy.

Nathan thought for a moment, choosing his words quickly and carefully. "I'm passionate about basketball…but I wouldn't want to write 500 words on it. You know what makes me feel passionate? The adrenaline rush from right before a game, the fun I have when I play a pickup game with Luke and the other Rivercourt guys, knowing that my dad is proud of me, sitting down to dinner with your family and knowing I belong, how I can look into your eyes and just know that you complete love and trust me. All those things…they make my life worth living so I guess that's what I'm passionate about."

"Did I make sense?" Nathan wondered, glancing down at his now-sleeping girlfriend. She would probably kill him for letting her sleep but he had the feeling that she needed rest more than anything else. Carefully he slipped out from under her and stealthily slid her pillow under head. He dropped a quick kiss on her forehead before setting her alarm clock for two hours and slipping out the door.

"You're not staying for dinner, Nathan?" Mrs. James questioned him as he opened the door. She was wiping her hands with a dish rag and he took a second to deeply inhale the smell of a home-cooked meal.

"Not today, Haley fell asleep though," he explained and watched her eyebrows go up in question, "Trust me, she needs it. I set her alarm clock for a little later though so can you tell her I'll see her tomorrow?"

"Of course," she replied brightly. "Drive safe," she called, shutting the door behind him.

Haley awoke with a start as her alarm shrieked right next to her ear. Annoyed, she slammed a hand down on the offending device and then collapsed back onto her pillow, trying to figure out how she got into bed. Of course, her boyfriend, correction: her deeply stupid boyfriend who had coerced her into straying from her work.

Haley bolted out of bed and immediately moved towards her desk, intent on finishing her essay or at least a rough draft. Moving the mouse, the screensaver quickly disappeared and she found that someone, other than her, had recently used her word processor. Her eyes scanned the page quickly, a smile starting to break out onto her face, before she carefully read over it again.

_I love… basketball_

_Tim_

_Whitey_

_ My mom_

_ My dad_

_ Lucas_

_ Your parents_

_ How protective your siblings are_

_ Your mom's mashed potatoes_

_ How you will never tell anyone about this_

_ You_

_Good luck…you don't need it._

Correction: her wonderful and amazingly supportive boyfriend.


	2. Letters

The classroom door opening and an office aide walking in interrupted the calm quiet of the test-taking environment. Said office aide handed a slip to the teacher as the other twenty students carefully scrutinized his every move. If there wasn't a test out, a multitude of hushed voices would have been quietly whispering about the contents of the note.

The teacher quickly scanned over it before calling out, "Shannon Pruitt, after you're done with your test." He left the note on the corner of his desk before returning to his newspaper. Ten minutes later, Haley had finished her own test and watched closely as Shannon went to the front of the class and exchanged her paper for the note, leaving the classroom.

Five minutes later, the girl returned with a bunch of balloons and a bouquet of roses. "I got into Duke," she squealed excitedly and everyone burst out with 'Congratulations' before returning to their test.

"Screw you," Haley muttered under her breath, while Lucas gave her a knowing look out of the corner of his eye. Dejectedly, she began fiddling with the pen on her desk and tapping it sporadically.

"Ms. James!" Haley's head popped up from where she had been examining a crack in the wood surface of the desk. The teacher gave a pointed look at her tapping pen which caused her to blush in embarrassment. "Ms. James, if you're finished, you're free to go," he sighed out, giving a pass to one of his best students.

Haley packed up her things before speeding out of the room, knowing exactly where she was going. As she dropped her messenger bag on the ground next to his, Nathan sent her a confused look before glancing over to the clock in the room. "No, you didn't miss the bell," Haley immediately responded, sinking into the chair next to him.

"Nice to see you, too, girlfriend. Yes, my day's been great. What are you doing out of class?" Nathan questioned, leaning over to push a kiss to her pouting lips. "Anything I should know about? Peyton convincing you to play hooky, again?"

"No, Shannon Killjoy got into Duke. Her mommy and daddy sent her flowers and balloons," Haley mocked in a high-pitched voice. She blew out a disgusted sigh before leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes.

Nathan just furrowed his brow at her. "Shannon Kil…oh gotcha. Well, there's the supportive, nonjudgmental, happy-for-others Haley I know and love. Something wrong, babe?" he questioned with a cheeky smile.

Haley opened one eye to glare at him. She had once casually mentioned how she liked his occasional use of pet names for her, despite the fact that she previously considered them sickening, and now he only used them to mock her. "You know exactly what's wrong, _babe_. I want my acceptance letters," she whined, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Aw, Hales, how do you know they're acceptance letters?" he joked, scooting his chair closer to hers as he all but forgot about his history paper. Apart from the application freak out nearly half a year ago, nothing seemed to throw Haley out of sorts and it was always amusing for him to find something that could, no matter how serious.

With a sharp kick to his leg, Haley stepped up the pouting. "See you think you're being cute and funny but really you're just being insensitive to the fact that I have no clue where I'm going to be spending the next four years of my life, not to mention whether or not we'll be spending those years in the same vicinity of each other. But go ahead, crack your jokes and mock your girlfriend's pain. See if you get any action this weekend."

"See _that's _cute, you think you can still resist me," Nathan smirked, watching Haley's unchanging expression. "And I'm cracking jokes about the fact that you're even worried about where you're going to school. Any college would be lucky to have you."

"Hey, boyfriend? You're starting to sound like my Aunt Ruth. Way to go!" Haley mockingly pumped her fist in the air, rolling her eyes at Nathan's smirk. "This isn't funny," she pouted emphatically. "It's not fair, alright? You know where you're going, so do Luke and Peyton. Brooke, God help her, doesn't really seem to care all that much. Even Tim's got it figured out. I'm the slow one. I'm never the slow one."

"You're not slow, babe. Everyone else is just a little faster," Nathan comforted, seeing that his words weren't having the desired effect. Sighing lightly, he thought quickly for anything that would help. "Have you already turned in your essay?" She nodded at him through tearing eyes. "Come on," he shoved his books into his backpack before grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet.

"We're ditching," Nathan smiled at her shocked expression. To this day, as a senior in high school, she was still so hellbent on not breaking any rules. "You're practically valedictorian, Hales. We're ditching. We're going to go home and check your mailbox. We'll pick up some ice cream on the way and we can either celebrate or have you whine at me."

Twenty minutes later they were pulling up to her house with more ice cream in his trunk than he ever imagined possible. "I'll go put these in the freezer, you check the mail," Haley ordered. She jumped out of the car and once he had popped the trunk, took everything and practically ran up her front steps.

Nathan just shook his head, chuckling at the way she so very obviously avoided the mailbox. He just knew that Jimmy and Lydia teased her about it everyday they had to get the mail themselves. Taking a deep breath, he eased open the front of the mailbox and peered in cautiously. As he spied the two oversized envelopes crammed inside a bright smile broke out across his face. Ignoring the other mail, he grabbed his two treasures and inspected the return addresses before rushing inside.

"Hales!" he called out, immediately setting out for the kitchen. As an afterthought he moved both his hands behind his back, hiding the packages. The kitchen door swung open, Haley responding to his calls, and, panicking, Nathan shoved his foot out to keep the door from smacking him in the face. Haley was startled by the way the door bounced back at her and looked up at him curiously, ice cream quart in one hand and spoon in mouth.

Laughing at the picture she made, Nathan quickly instructed her to "get that thing out of your mouth!" He switched the envelopes to one hand and pulled her along to the living room, barely giving her time to set the carton down. Practically tossing her onto the couch, he stood in front of her, legs jumpy and both hands clasped behind his back. "Okay so where do you want to go the most?"

Haley just glared up at him, ignoring his infectious smile. "If this is just another ploy to get me to admit that it seems like I'm following you to college, I swear to God Nathan, kick to the balls."

"Stop being a drama queen and answer the damn questions," Nathan huffed out, not trusting her threats, especially when he had no way of protecting himself.

"Wake Forest," she mumbled, looking down at her shoes, "And that's in spite of the fact that you will be there in the fall not because of it." Haley just glared at the offending object he had thrown onto her lap before looking up at him and crossing her arms over her chest. "You didn't even open the damn thing. I don't know what you're so excited about."

Nathan just gaped at her, not believing the words coming out of her mouth. "But…but it's big envelope." She just raised an eyebrow at him, as if to say "So?" "Haley! God damn woman! Why do you insist on being difficult? No college sends you a big envelope if you didn't get in! They have to tell you about all the shit you're going to be paying out the ass for! They didn't send you a twenty page essay on why they rejected your ass!"

"Nathan!" Haley yelled, interrupting his rant. He just looked down at her expectantly, chest heaving. "I'm going to college," Haley told him as if he hadn't been yelling at her about it, a confused and disbelieving look on her face.

He just stared at her as if she had grown another head, "Of course you're going to damn college! If I'm going to damn college, you're going to damn college! Now will you get over here?" Haley's smile overtook her face as she jumped up and practically tackled her huffy boyfriend. "Why the hell didn't you believe me in the first place?" Nathan grumbled out, ignoring that she had wrapped her legs around his waist and was smattering kisses all over his face.

A second later she had dropped to the ground and made a mad dash to the phone. "Damn it!" she swore as she slammed down the receiver and picked it back up quickly. Her jittery fingers made it impossible to work such a simple device as her house phone.

"Use the speed dial, babe," Nathan reminded, sinking to the couch. He picked up the package that had fell to the ground and slid under the couch in Haley's excitement and used his keys to carefully tear it open.

"Mommy!"

The sudden outburst caused him to drop the package and swear silently, casting a tentative glance at his bouncing girlfriend. "I'm going to college! No, I'm not in school right now, is that all you care about? Oh who cares about class I'm already going to COLLEGE! Take that Taylor and her 'no place is ever going to want a tightass like you!" I have to call daddy, bye!"

A combination of her excitement and natural clumsiness caused her to knock the base off the table and onto her bare foot as she spun around. "Ow, ow, ow," Haley muttered jumping around on one foot and still trying to dial the phone.

Unable to hide the smile, Nathan quickly stood and removed the phone from her hand, stilling her movements. "Before you hurt yourself again, Hales," he said laughingly, bending to retrieve the base and replace it on the table.

"But I have to tell everyone," Haley pouted, trying to remove the phone from his death grip.

Nathan looked at her amused and held the device high above his head. "Everyone's at school right now. If you call them, their ringers are going to go off and they'll get their phones taken away," he explained as if talking to a small child.

Haley's eyes widened comically before she smiled brightly and began hopping up and down again. "Let's go back to school!" was her bright idea that caused Nathan to stare at her incredulously. "Come on," she pulled the keys out of his pocket and was at the front door faster than he had ever seen her move.

"But we're ditching," he protested as she came back to tug and pull on his hand. "The point of ditching is that we're not in class. If we go back to class, then we're not ditching anymore. Haley, damn it! This is the second time I've convinced you to skip school we're not going back there."

"But that's where everyone else is. How else are they going to know that I got into college, baby?" she pouted at him, bringing out the doe eyes. "Shannon Killjoy's parents sent her flowers and balloons. The least we could do is TELL everyone that I'm going to college. That's all I'm asking for."

Nathan sighed and glanced up, avoiding the James patented puppy dog eyes. She easily wrapped herself around him and he smirked suddenly. "How about _I _send you flowers tomorrow morning and we have our own celebration here?" the question was accompanied by his wagging eyebrows and Haley just smiled.

Taking that as approval, he quickly attached his lips to hers before picking her up and walking them up the stairs. "School?" Haley questioned in a small voice, pulling back slightly.

"I'll hire a blimp," Nathan swore, kicking open the door to her bedroom. He tossed her on the bed before pulling off his shirt and crawling on top of her.

"I think I'll like going to college with you," Haley mused happily.

"I think our roommates are going to hate us."


	3. Graduation

Nathan had arrived nearly ten minutes ago for graduation practice along with Lucas but neither could find the three girls who had claimed to already be there. Since the gym was packed tight with the overeager senior class, they tried splitting up to increase their chances of finding the girls.

He was edging around the walls of the gym, trying to peer into the crowd when he felt someone grab tightly onto his shoulder and pull him backwards. He was reluctant to give into the person's pull, scared that it was some basketball groupie hoping for one last chance to score with the star. Glancing down at the feminine hand, Nathan noticed the familiar gold pinky ring and breathed a sigh of relief, allowing himself to be brought into the alcove of the locker rooms.

"Oh thank god it's you. When you didn't move I thought I grabbed Tim or someone," Haley shuddered lightly. While she had grown used to Tim and his crazy antics, she definitely did not want to be in a dark corner with him. "You've got to help me," she suddenly turned serious, sliding her hands up his back to grip his shoulders. "Brooke has gone crazy and I think she's going to try and lock us all in a room together!"

Nathan stared down at her widened and scared eyes, fighting off his initial instinct to laugh. "Why would she want to do that? And without any alcohol?"

"Funny, she doesn't want us to leave. Any of us. To anywhere," Haley emphasized each phrase, trying to convey the seriousness of the situation with her eyes. And that's when he burst into laughter. "Okay, if you thought I was crazy around acceptance letters time, that was nothing. Brooke is having empty nest syndrome or something. I know she isn't a mother or anything but she's about as hysterical as my mom the day Connor left for college. It's madness."

Nathan cocked an eyebrow at her. From what he had heard that wasn't a pretty day: lots of Lydia James screaming and crying and clinging to doorframes, all ending with a very embarrassed and horrified Connor at NYU. Thankfully that was Lydia's only bad episode and she was able to send off her other five children with only moderate hysterics. "Where is she? Does she know you're hiding from her?"

"No, of course not! Are you insane? I faked a phone call from Quinn and came running into here. Now I'm sure Brooke Davis has seen the boys' locker room plenty of times but I don't think she expects me to hide in here," Haley looked out and poked her head around the corner, pulling back quickly. "I ditched Peyton though," she admitted, "so she might be trying to kill me."

Nathan rolled his eyes, definitely not fearful of his ex-girlfriend. "When Brooke loses it, people adopt a "every man for himself" strategy," he assured. "So how long are we going to be hiding here?"

"Not long enough to do whatever you're thinking of," Haley replied easily, not letting his wandering hands distract her. "Now, practice should start in about five minutes. You're all perfectly safe but I'm a lot closer in the alphabet to Davis than Scott or Sawyer. Help me!" she pleaded, shaking him lightly.

Shaking his head, he chuckled at her exuberance. "You know this is why everyone calls you 'quirky,' right?"

"You love 'quirky,'" Haley shot back and he just shrugged in agreement. "Now help your love before she drowns in a pool of Brooke Davis' tears. I would like to actually graduate high school before that girl suffocates me in some kind of a bear hug."

"Haley, babe," Nathan began in a placating voice which just caused her to pout at him. "You're the valedictorian."

"Yes, yes, I know. Not to sound arrogant or anything but there was that week when you guys worshipped at my feet and my parents were beside themselves with pride. Oh wait, no, you, Luke, and Tim just kind of mumbled 'Congratulations' while playing NBA Live and Brooke was too busy yelling at Peyton for her taste in music for either of them to even hear me. And I think my parents went to go bail Taylor out of jail, or testify for her, something like that. I wonder if they ever got that voicemail," Haley muttered with distaste.

Rolling his eyes, Nathan responded, "We apologized for that, remember? And then we threw you that big party and gave into your every demand, no matter how freaking ridiculous you were being, because God forbid you feel neglected on one day." At her gaping mouth, he quickly backtracked, "I kid, I kid. We did feel bad and we did apologize."

"Was there a point to this whole valedictorian thing?" Haley questioned, pulling away and placing her hands on her hips.

"Of course," Nathan smiled endearingly at her, earning himself a hard glare. "You're the valedictorian. You'll be sitting up on stage so I guess you'll just be up front during practice," he quickly reminded her. Haley was the tutor so it was often his job to be in charge of common sense which she easily admitted to lacking at times.

"Oh yeah," she smiled back readily. "That's a relief. Well, I pity whoever ends up near Brooke. She's probably going to be crying on their shoulder even if she doesn't know them," Haley guessed, probably correctly. Nathan just smiled at her, nodding exaggeratedly. "Oh shut up," she rolled her eyes, pushing her lips up to meet his smiling ones.

"Is this thing on? Has anyone seen Haley James or Nathan Scott? You know, the valedictorian and the basketball player? They need one of them, I don't know which one but they told me to go find them so I thought this would be the best way. Haley? Nathan?"

They broke away quickly, looking towards the locker room entrance and then back at each other. "Was that Tim?" Haley questioned. "Or am I hearing large, megaphone-level voices that sound like Tim?"

"Smith! You…just give me that damned thing! Everyone else, ignore this fool who shouldn't be graduating! Haley! Nathan! You two better not be in my locker room again! Get out here this instant!"

Nathan turned shocked and fearful eyes to his girlfriend's, which hosted the same expressions. "Was that Whitey?" he gulped out. "On the megaphone? Calling us out of the locker rooms? So that everyone will be staring at it and see us come out?" Nathan questioned quietly. The gym had noticeably silenced, the crowd undoubtedly waiting for them to emerge.

"Like this is a big deal to you?" Haley scoffed. "Get your butt out there so I can hide behind it," she demanded, pushing him towards the doorway. "And don't you dare say anything embarrassing!" Haley jabbed him in the back with her finger.

Nathan emerged bashfully from the opening, immediately spotting Tim and Lucas bumping fists. Instinctively he knew that his "best friend" had pulled the stunt on purpose, always willing to make himself look like a jackass at someone else's expense. It was probably fair payback for all the times everyone had shared a laugh at Tim's expense.

Haley poked her head around Nathan's arm and saw the entire senior class and many of the faculty staring back at them with curious eyes. Looking down, Nathan noticed that she had turned her brightest shade of red yet and made sure to store that his memory.

"Alright, everyone," Principal Turner yelled using the accursed megaphone. "Now that we've located the valedictorian, let's get this practice going so we can all get the heck out of here. Your names are on notecards on the seats so go find yours. Alphabetical order. Haley, if you'd please," he motioned for her to come to the front of the auditorium where the podium would be tomorrow.

Waiting for everyone to disperse and basically play Marco Polo, Haley leaned up placing a small kiss on the corner of Nathan's jaw. "I'll see you in a little bit," she whispered, easily slipping through the crowd. Nathan watched her go until he noticed Whitey approaching, causing him to try and rush into the crowd.

"Not so fast there, Scott!"

Wincing noticeably, he allowed Whitey to catch up and turned around when the older man was right behind him. "I swear it was Haley's idea," he offered, holding his hands up as if to plead innocence.

Whitey clearly gave him a 'yeah, right' look before clearing his throat gruffly. "Listen, Scott, I'm not sure if I'll be able to find you after the ceremony tomorrow so I just wanted to stay that I'm proud of you."

Nathan allowed a true smile to shine through, the kind he normally reserved for Haley. "Thanks, coach. It was…well, it was an honor winning you that championship. I'm just glad we got you one before you retired."

"I'm not talking about that," Whitey grumbled, waving a dismissive hand. "Although if anyone ever told me that Danny Scott's son would actually listen to me well…never mind. I mean, you've turned into a good kid. You've forgiven your dad and your mom and you're getting along with Lucas. And Haley, that girl's gotten you into some trouble but she's kept you out of even more."

Nodding along, Nathan kept his eyes trained on his feet. "You're going to be just fine in college, Nate, and for a long time after that. Believe that."

"Thanks, Coach," he returned with a small smile. Before the older man could protest Nathan grabbed him in a tight hug. "You're always going to be a living legend for me. I'll be sure to come back and tell all the freshmen what ticks you off the most," he joked and quickly backed away from the older man. They shared knowing nods before Nathan turned to find his seat next to his brother.

"I'm no good with speeches," Haley began the next afternoon, smiling weakly at the crowd assembled. "I'm sure anyone who knows me or has even seen me try to give a presentation in class can tell you that. I play with my fingers, I move around, I bounce, I ramble, kind of like now," she let out a small laugh that was echoed by some of those in the audience. "I'm going to try and keep this simple without having to resort to Dr. Seuss and I do have a copy of "Oh the places you will go" with me just in case."

Nathan stared proudly at Haley as she tried not to stumble through her speech. She had been so sure that the seniors and their families would boo her off the stage. Without really even thinking about the consequences, Nathan jumped to his feet and began moving through the aisles, struggling with the length of his graduation robe.

"Nathan, get back here!"

He heard Lucas calling him back as if he were a little kid and just kept going. Nodding at Peyton and Tim he ignored their bewildered looks and moved towards the stage. If he knew Haley at all she would be too preoccupied with getting to the end of her speech to really notice anything happening in the audience so she hopefully would see him coming.

"Well, I don't know about all of you personally but I had an amazing time here in this school. But I don't want to talk too much about me so I just hope that everyone graduating today had a great four years here. Everyone has their ups and downs and we'll always continue to have those but I just have this feeling that if we hold on, the ups will outnumber the downs. So, um, this day, our graduation day, is definitely, definitely one of those ups. Try, really try, to remember the good about your Tree Hill classmates because, to sound horribly clichéd, we made it. And we made it together. That's the most important thing. Congratulations Class of 2006!"

Haley smiled brightly at the crowd, tears stinging at her eyes and many of those in the crowd. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Brooke sharing a hug with a relatively unpopular girl named Glenda. Only Brooke Davis would hug someone she'd never met before or barely even knew as if they were some sort of long lost relative.

A moment later, she felt herself being crushed into a pair of extremely familiar arms and made the belated realization that her boyfriend had found his way on stage. "I'm so proud of you Hales," he murmured, picking her up in a bear hug. Haley could only laugh as Nathan set her back on her feet and cut her off with a deep kiss.

The whoops and hollers were heard clearly on stage and Haley made a mental note to kill her family and friends as Nathan broke the kiss. She couldn't even be mad as Nathan smiled back brilliantly at her, the pride evident in his eyes. "That's my girl!" he yelled to the crowd that laughed back good-naturedly.

"Come on, Nathan, let's get you back to your seat," Principal Turner advised, unable to do anything but smile tightly at the teenager and insist that he leave the stage.

"One more picture, guys, I swear!" Lydia James professed loudly, much to the disappointment of the six teenagers before her. "Just one more!" she pleaded and they once again slung their arms around each other, obedient smiles on everyone's face.

Days later, after the film had been developed, she would find that the perfect moment had been captured. Lucas had pulled Tim into a headlock that the smaller boy couldn't help but fall victim to. Brooke's hand was obviously moving to grope Peyton in an inappropriate place while the blonde had made the "Rock On" symbol with one hand, her other arm hugging Brooke tightly to her, and stuck her tongue out. And Nathan had caught Haley in yet another unexpected kiss that caused her hand to fly up in a desperate attempt to keep the cap on her head. Amidst the flurry of activity, she could still see the smiles.


	4. Fourth

Haley gave a soft smile as she stared out over the immaculate and tastefully festive decorations spread all over the Scott backyard, or rather Dan Scott's backyard. After the divorce Deb had opted to purchase a smaller, but still sizeable, home equidistance between the cafe and the high school. As per the court ruling, Nathan spent his weekdays at Deb's and weekends at Dan's. In Haley's mind it had been the perfect solution: Nathan was learning how to get along with his mother and Dan was slowly but surely understanding the concept of hands-off parenting.

Dan had agreed to host the Fourth of July party at the 'mansion' as per the norm and Deb, while now a working mother, had retained enough of her society background to create a beautiful dinner party. It was painfully obvious to everyone how the divorced couple maintained their distance at all times but, thankfully, it looked to be a scuffle-free night.

A loud giggle echoed through the crowd and Haley looked up immediately recognizing the sound. Nathan had his young niece on his shoulders and was slowly making his way through the masses over to her. Nathan's Uncle Cooper, while admittedly the most commitment-phobic man ever, had stepped up the plate when one of his many ex-girlfriends had become pregnant and now shared custody of the small girl. Between her Uncle Nathan and "new" Uncle Lucas, the little girl was being spoiled rotten as each brother competed to be her favorite by the end of the night.

Lucas had been momentarily distracted by a certain blonde, depressive cheerleader and Nathan had taken the opportunity to bring Jamie to her "second" favorite person, by his reasoning. "Haley!" the four-year old cried out excitedly, forgetting where she was for a moment and kicking her feet.

Letting out a soft grunt when his niece's Mary Jane's hit a particularly sensitive spot on his chest, Nathan moved his hands from where they kept her legs steady and quickly lifted her from his broad shoulders. Haley raised an eyebrow at the way he dangled his niece over six feet off the ground and let out a sigh when all Jamie did was giggle happily.

"I wasn't going to drop her," Nathan murmured, leaning over the toddler to give her a soft kiss. "What happened?" he questioned knowingly, having caught the look of annoyance on her face before he came over.

"Nothing, siblings," Haley brushed off quickly, happy that Nathan was now familiar with the sensation of being annoyed with his sibling rather than bloodthirsty. "Taylor, Quinn, and Robbie were fighting over who gets the back row of the van," she sighed, "Good thing three college students can act so maturely." Her family had opted out of the Scott annual bash and instead piled into the family minivan for a six hour drive to Maryland to spend the holiday with Connor and his fiancée Alyssa's family.

Nathan just smirked at the way she easily lifted Jamie into her arms. "I've got a present for you," Haley told the young girl who smiled excitedly. "But only if you're good for your Uncle Nathan and behave tonight," she warned and Jamie nodded obediently. Cooper had more of a "live and let live" philosophy which didn't always work when there were multiple people around, all willing to coo over the adorable toddler. And the girl was adorable with Cooper's dark hair and wide smile and her mother-the-model's, as Haley had often heard, green eyes.

"You spoil her," Nathan teased and Haley predictably set the girl back down on her feet. "I was just kidding," he remarked, his mouth twisting into a frown when Jamie stomped her foot petulantly. Yes, the girl was ridiculously spoiled by her doting uncles and affluent grandparents but she was the youngest grandchild.

Haley just rolled her eyes, pleased and slightly annoyed with the way Jamie responded to not getting what she wanted, pleased because it reminded her remarkably of a certain boyfriend of hers. "Jamie, you've got to behave, remember?" Haley asked softly and the girl almost immediately calmed down.

"Jay, why don't you go run over to your Uncle Lucas?" Nathan suggested and the girl brightened at the idea. He carefully pointed him out to her and watched attentively as she bobbed and weaved through the crowd, easily spotting the legs belonging to the lanky blonde and nearly knocking him over as she went crashing into them.

They both chuckled softly and Nathan turned to view his girlfriend properly. He had caught brief glimpses of her through the crowd as he had approached but as usual his attention was focused on Jamie and making sure that she wouldn't fall of his shoulders. Nathan was grateful for the distraction now because his reaction would not have been appropriate around his four-year old niece.

As per the norm, Haley blushed intensely under his assessing gaze, something he used to keep from doing since it made her too uncomfortable. Now he just reveled in the way she reacted to him. Letting out a low whistle, Nathan chuckled huskily, "Wow, Hales, if I had known you'd be wearing that, well, I…"

"Not another word, Nathan," Haley quickly and efficiently silenced him, sealing her lips over his. She lightly gripped the front of his light blue button down shirt before settling back on her heels, wobbling slightly. Nathan released a light, breathless laugh as he steadied her feet and slyly snuck his eyes back down for a peek from his new vantage point. "Taylor and Quinn ganged up on me. You know I suck at saying no to them," she explained, giving a small shrug.

"And you know this is why I love having them over," Nathan laughed as she pinched his upper arm lightly. "You look great," he swore, meeting her hesitant eyes. The sundress wasn't particularly low-cut or fitted, at least not if it came out of Taylor's closet, but it was more girly and high-maintenance than his Haley was used to and that was enough to make her self-conscious.

Haley hooked her arm into the crook of his, leading him back to the main party. It was partly because she loved being tucked into his side and partly because she didn't trust herself to walk steadily in her heels. "Are you sure?" she questioned teasingly, if Nathan was willing to offer then she was going compliment-fishing especially since Quinn had nearly burned the back of her neck trying to curl her hair.

"Stunning, gorgeous, every word you could think of," Nathan raved, rolling his eyes at her self-satisfied smirk, the one she had copied from him. Leaning into her slightly, Nathan brushed her ear, "Good enough to carry to my bed." Pulling back quickly, he was satisfied to see the expected result, a deep red blush that Haley couldn't get rid of even as they approached his mother.

"Hey Mom," Nathan greeted warmly, his genuine smile enough to excuse him from interrupting her conversation. "Look who finally got here," he pulled the still-blushing Haley close to his side and smiled warmly down at her.

Haley nudged Nathan in the side discreetly before turning her attention to his mother. "Hi, Deb, the place looks great," Haley gushed and the older woman waved her off.

"Thank you, Haley. You look gorgeuous. Nathan, you've done your son duties for the night. You two go have fun with your friends," Deb impatiently shooed them away, smiling as they turned around quickly, yelling their goodbyes.

Haley leaned heavily on Nathan as he led her around the pool. "So how's it been so far? No major Scott family drama?" she asked, smiling up at him.

Nathan just shook his head. "Nope, I think they separated the backyard before the party started. Dad's been steering clear of Coop and Lucas and my grandparents which, you know, is probably the best decision he's made in days."

"That's good. That they're trying," Haley mused out loud. "I mean this isn't exactly a recipe for the best Fourth of July ever but they're trying. It's…unexpected." Nathan just nodded down at her, pausing briefly to pull her into a tight hug. Haley didn't question it, simply wrapping her arms around him and rubbing her hands along his back. She had seen how tense he had been from the moment she spotted him, though he tried to hide it for Jamie's sake. One of his worst fears for the night was a knock-down, drag-out fight between his parents like the one during Dan's birthday but this time for half of Tree Hill to witness.

After a few moments he pulled away, leaning down to affectionately kiss her forehead before they continued their walk. "So I forgot to tell you. Robbie's girlfriend bought him a new guitar for his birthday so he brought back his old one for me. He's going to dig out his old beginner's songbooks and give me some lessons later."

"That's cool. You've wanted to learn to play for a while, right?" Nathan asked. He didn't totally understand the concept of hand-me-downs since, well, Dan Scott's son got nothing but the best. But he tried to be patient like she was and not go out and buy her all the things she wanted because her family couldn't afford them just then.

Nodding excitedly, Haley turned her sparkling eyes towards his. "Yeah, it's really nice of Rob. I mean, Alex lives like twenty minutes away so he could be over there but he's going to stay and teach me. I think he just wants to take my mind off things, you know, after you leave…" her voice trailed off at the end and she felt his body stiffen slightly next to hers.

"He's supposed to," Nathan murmured, "It's not nice of him. He's your brother; it's his duty or whatever." He was sure she noticed the change in his demeanor but it wasn't his fault. Thanks to the stupid small talk and polite chatter he had to make with all of his parents' friends while waiting for her, his departure in a week had grown to be a sore spot.

Changing the subject even further Haley quickly blurted out, "I should go say hi to your grandparents." The second the words left her mouth, Haley wanted to clasp a hand over her mouth and pray that somehow she could take them back.

Nathan just stared at her as if she had grown a second head. "I mean if you want," he drew out slowly, taking in the panicked expression in her eyes. "Grandma still likes you," he offered kindly, mindful of the time Grandpa Royal and Haley had butted heads the morning of the state championship. He had been convinced he needed a warm-up run; Haley had been convinced he needed more sleep. Things did not end well.

"I should," Haley told him reluctantly. "I don't want to have this weird tension with your Grandfather. I was just so angry that day. I mean, Dan was still being…Dan and then he…I don't even know. I should just go apologize. I don't normally talk to elders like that; I don't know what's wrong with me."

"I do," Nathan smiled, taking in her flustered hand movements and the way she kept shifting her feet. "You love me and you were looking out for me. You were right that day, you know? I never said it but I did need sleep. Warming up is for before the game, not at seven in the morning. And I'm pretty sure Grandpa likes you, likes that you love me enough to argue with him."

Haley just nodded tersely, not convinced of the words coming out of his mouth. Nathan just smiled at her stubbornness, remembering how later Royal had told him that 'he had some girl, and he better be careful of how he treats her.' "Come on," Nathan urged, taking her hand and leading her back towards the crowd to find his grandparents.

"Grandma! Grandpa!" Nathan called out as he neared them. They were by the back gate leading out to the driveway and probably ready to leave. Royal had stopped staying for the fireworks display years ago, claiming they were much too bright and noisy for his old self.

"You don't need to shout, Nathan," Royal gruffly chastised him. A small upward twitch of his lips occurred as he spotted the short girl next to his grandson. "Haley, how are you?"

"Just fine, how are you two?" Haley returned politely, resisting the urge to curtsey or something. "How's the new house?" she questioned, remembering that they had traded in their spacious mansion for something less sizeable and "with fewer stairs" as Nathan had put it.

"Wonderful, we just finished the landscaping and it's gorgeous, Haley," May easily replied, "You and Nathan should come by some time, maybe over your Christmas break." May reached out and patted the young girls' arm affectionately, aware of the way she fidgeted under Royal's stare.

"You going to support our boy at Wake?" he questioned roughly.

"Every game," Haley promised, smiling sweetly at first her boyfriend and then his old coot of a grandfather. "Just like always," she threw in the subtle reminder, not faltering for a second.

Royal just nodded thoughtfully, "That's good. He's going to need it, tougher competition. I was looking over your stats the other day, Nathan, on the computer." Nathan just nodded, unsure of where this was going. "Did you know that some of your best came after you started dating Haley here? That's something isn't it?"

Haley finally took a deep breath as the elderly man winked at her, a small smile appearing. "Must be coincidence," Haley returned, shrugging lightly.

May also seemed to breath a little easier, letting out a small laugh. "Okay, you kids can head back to the party. You've done your duty, sending off the grandparents and all."

Nathan and Haley waved them to the end of the driveway where one of the valets Deb had hired quickly took off down the street to fetch their car. Haley breathed a loud sigh of relief before collapsing against Nathan's stable chest. "See? Told you he likes you," Nathan gloated, grateful that things were continuing to go his way.

Haley grabbed the front of his shirt, ragging them both back to the party, but Nathan stopped suddenly. "Did you know," he whispered after circling both arms around her waist and pulling her back to him, "that my best game all season, and I think in my entire career, came after the night we…" He trailed off suggestively, holding in the laughter as she flushed pink.

"We're going to miss the fireworks," Haley reminded him, as he took her hand and led her up the walkway to his house.

"You'll see them anyway," Nathan responded cheekily, picking up the pace when she playfully slapped his butt.

Jamie watched the pair curiously over Lucas's shoulder. He was carrying her back towards Cooper, unmindful of the dirt her shoes were rubbing into his dress shirt. "Where are Uncle Nathan and Haley going?" the young girl questioned quietly and Lucas turned to look over his shoulder in time to see the back door slide shut.

"Uh…they're going…they need…um…hey Cooper!" he eagerly called, walking faster.


	5. The Last Kiss

Haley sunk even lower into the plush chair as she bit her lip to hold in the deep sigh. At first it had been relatively amusing to see her eighteen year old boyfriend stomp around and basically throw a temper tantrum that would rival a two year old's. Now it was just becoming ridiculous. Deb was rushing around, trying to placate him to the best of her ability, and Dan was standing at the door, rolling his eyes at his son's behavior.

She thought back to last weekend when they had to see Lucas off as he too left for basketball training at UNC Chapel Hill. Even as Nathan had taken her into his arms to comfort his loss, he was rolling his eyes above her head, amazed at the amount of tears she was able to shed that day. Brooke and Peyton hadn't been any better, and Karen even worse, crying on Keith's shoulder. Even Dan had stopped by for a few moments to bade Lucas farewell and, for once, all Scott men agreed on something: women were far too emotional. Unable to stand the crying anymore, Lucas hopped into the slightly used truck that the adults had all pitched in for as his graduation present and sped away.

Tim, on the other hand, had hit the road a few weeks after graduation. One Friday he packed up his car and headed for the California coast where he would stay with his cousins before driving into Arizona for the fall semester at the state university there. Haley, as reluctant as she was to admit it, had developed a certain fondness for Tim's inappropriate jokes and antics and couldn't wait to see him again over break.

Now she was watching her boyfriend pack up his life, or at least what they would be able to fit in their dorm rooms. Soon, it would just be her, Brooke, and Peyton. The only comfort Haley had was that she wouldn't be the last one, in fact Brooke and Peyton would both be left behind before leaving for NC State and NYU respectively.

When Nathan nearly overturned the suitcase he had been packing for the last hour, Haley had enough. Standing up angrily she marched over and quickly tripped him onto his own bed. "Stop right there," she demanded and he quieted almost immediately but not without glaring at her. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Dan covering his smile with his hand. He had always been vaguely amused by the way his son practically cowered at her temper.

"Zip that up," she told him and he complied, shutting the suitcase and preventing anything from falling out. "Apologize to your mom," Haley demanded next, answering his angry glare by simply raising her eyebrow. Nathan mumbled out a 'sorry' and Deb knowingly made her escape, pulling her ex-husband with her.

"Now what's wrong?" Haley asked, arms crossed, foot tapping.

Nathan just sighed, falling back on his bed helplessly. "You're not packing!" he exclaimed, flailing his arms around a bit. Haley just sighed, climbing onto his bed and taking a seat on his lower stomach.

"You want me to pack your crap for you?" she questioned seriously, looking into his eyes.

"No!" Nathan huffed out exasperated. He had never been one for expressing himself with words and for some reason Haley's ability to read him was failing miserably today. "I just mean you're not coming. I don't want to leave before you," he quietly admitted, glancing away from the smile spreading on her face.

"Aww," Haley cooed, much to his discomfort. "You're throwing a fit cause I'm not coming with you?" she asked, smiling and bouncing lightly on his stomach.

"Oomph," Nathan wheezed out when she landed particularly heavily on his diaphragm. "Stop the bouncing, babe," he suggested, gripping her waist to still her movements. "Of course, I want you to be there. I'm leaving nearly two months early. What the hell am I supposed to do with myself?"

"Um," Haley tapped her chin for a moment, feigning serious thought. "Practice, bond with the team, make friends cause God knows you're only going to hang out with me when I get there. Oh boy, we're going to be one of those sickening, nauseating-to-watch-in-public couples who only have each other as friends. And I'm going to cry bitter, bitter tears as I watch you play away games on ESPN while my roommate tries to not throw a lamp at my pathetic, clingy head."

Nathan just chuckled at the pure look of utter panic on her face. And here he thought he was supposed to be the one freaking out. "Are you insane? That sounds great. Don't forget the part where we make mortal enemies out of our roommates because we're always kicking them out to have sex."

"We are not doing that!" Haley shrieked in outrage. "Nathan Scott! I can't believe you would ever suggest something like that. That's it. We can't date in college. I'm not going to be known as 'the pathetic girl who followed her basketball star boyfriend to college and is apparently a nymphomaniac who kicks her roommate out'."

"Again, that sounds great. I'm not seeing the problem here," Nathan joked, pulling her down to lie on him. "You're coming up with all these horrible scenarios but they're sounding pretty good to me, babe."

Haley rolled her eyes at him, "That's cause you're a guy…and all these scenarios lead to lots of sex for you."

"You make it sound like that's some kind of punishment for you," Nathan smirked, "and I know that's definitely not what it is. Maybe our roommates will hook up and we can just switch rooms."

Haley smiled sweetly at him before he leaned up and caught her lips in a searing kiss. She pulled away breathless and patted his chest lightly. "Too convenient for us. You finish packing up your DVDs and stuff. I'll go make small talk with your parents AKA try not to hang myself. You can take me out to dinner and we'll finish your clothes tomorrow, okay?"

"Sounds like torture," Nathan groaned, pouting when she scooted off his body and bed. "You might want to fix…" he gestured up to her hair, smirking as she huffed over to his dresser and straightened out the mess he'd created. Haley paused by the door, pointing her finger at his sprawled out body and then gesturing towards his desk, before leaving to deal with his parents.

Nathan slowly made his way down the stairs after quickly throwing his DVDs, CDs, and various pictures into a plastic bin. Surprisingly, he found Haley sitting on the couch, playing with her cell phone, and his parents no where in sight. She looked up as he was reaching the bottom step and offered a relieved smile. "Your dad left and your mom took a phone call in the kitchen," she explained, fumbling with her phone and sighing exasperatedly when it slipped from her grip.

Smiling, he quickly bent to retrieve it and spoke softly to her, "Good, we can escape now while she's distracted." He grabbed her jacket off the chair and dragged her over to the front door. "Mom! We're going out for dinner!" Nathan bellowed after ushering her out the door. When Haley refused to move off the porch, he wrapped his arms around her waist and carried her over to the passenger side of the car.

"Nathan!" Haley shrieked as he lifted her. He tried to open the car door at the same time but she flailed around enough that he accidentally let go. "That's not nice! We should have invited your mom to dinner. How many times has she had to eat alone cause you've been at my house?"

"Don't worry about it. Maybe she has a date or something…maybe that's what the phone call was about," Nathan joked, "and besides how many more chances do we have to go out together before I leave on Wednesday."

Haley's eyebrows immediately shot up as she regarded her oddly-with-common-sense boyfriend. She practically ripped the door off its hinges as she climbed into his car. "What are you waiting for? Get your ass into gear, Scott!"

"What happened to get your ass into gear?" Nathan sighed as Haley wrapped her arms even tighter around his waist. She may have been small in size but right now it felt like she was squeezing the air out of his body. "Hales, I got to get going," he muttered sadly to her, regretting the words when she let out a sob into his already soaking wet t-shirt.

He cringed, a hand coming up to gently stroke through her hair, and looked helplessly at his mother, also a sobbing mess while using Uncle Keith as her tissue. Peyton and Brooke were standing by the mailbox, a respectable distance away from Haley's tirade. His dad was leaning nonchalantly against his SUV, not rushing the situation but obviously bored out of his mind. "Haley, baby," he tried again a moment later. He reached around behind him and slowly pried her hands out of the death grip she had on him.

Gently rubbing her hands, he knelt slightly so that she would look him in the eye. "I'm going to miss the hell out of you," Nathan spoke lowly, seeing the inklings of a pout forming on her lips. "But we've got to hit the road," he finished and, yes, that was definitely a pout…a teary pout to make it all the more better. "It's only two months…then you'll be back in my bed where you belong."

A cross between a sob and a giggle escaped her and Haley quickly slid her fingers up to cover her mouth. "Fine, just leave, you jerk," she spat out, pushing out of his embrace. Before he could utter a protest she launched herself back into his arms and he mildly chuckled. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean that. Don't leave. I really can't come?"

"No, I'm sorry," he murmured softly. God knows what kind of scene she would create at the university. Not to mention the surprise he had been planning ever since she got her acceptance letter. "Haley…" he trailed off again, wondering how long they'd have to do this back and forth thing.

"I know, I know," she whimpered out. "But you know what? I am never this girly so I get the right to cry over my boyfriend when he leaves me to go to college! I deserve this one moment of complete clingy, why-on-God's-green-earth-do-you-put-up-with-her, girlfriend-ness. And I know that's not a word," Haley muttered. A moment later she took a deep breath and pushed off his body. "Okay, you can leave now. But I won't watch you drive away. I won't."

She basically stomped over to where Brooke and Peyton were standing and plopped herself down on the sidewalk, staring down the length of the street he wouldn't be driving down. Nathan's face twisted into a scowl, as he walked back over to her. This would certainly be awkward in front of Brooke and Peyton but "Two months!" his mind kept screaming at him.

"You're not going to give me one last kiss," he whispered as he knelt behind her. Haley froze up, hearing his words, but then shook her head adamantly. "Please, Hales," he tried again and nearly took a step back when he saw her shoulders start to shake.

Without any warning, she turned and threw herself at him, nearly knocking him off his feet much like during their first kiss. Her mouth latched onto his desperately and try as he might he couldn't ignore the taste of her tears in their kiss. She broke the kiss first and pulled back to meet his eyes. "I love you," Haley spoke softly, a brief smile coming to her face. "Don't forget me."

Nathan smiled reassuringly at her before placing a gently touching his lips to her forehead. "I love you too. And never," he promised, finally at peace with their goodbye. He distributed another round of hugs to the rest and climbed into the Mustang. His dad pulled out of the driveway first, most of his personal belongings jammed into the back of the SUV.

With an eye on the rearview mirror, Nathan watched as Brooke and Peyton pulled Haley to her feet. She clung to the taller blonde and buried her head in her shoulder, still refusing to watch him leave.

Only after they pulled onto the interstate did he call his father and ask him to pull over. Climbing out of his car, Dan moved quickly towards the Mustang to see what was wrong. One glance in the driver window had him rounding the car and opening the passenger side door. He quietly sat in the passenger seat as he listened to his youngest son cry for the first time in years.


	6. Move In

Nathan jumped out of the car and shouted a quick goodbye to his fellow teammates. After living by himself for a month and a half on campus for practice and summer school, he was more than ready for the arrival of his girlfriend who, by his calculations, arrived half an hour ago. Dodging all the other families strewn about on Move In Day, he made a beeline for the girls' side of the dorm, ignoring the sketchy looks he got from various fathers.

Thanks to a twist of fate, otherwise known as Dan Scott, donating alumnus, he and Haley had ended up in the same dorm, something he had yet to surprise her with. Nathan couldn't keep the smile off his face as he rounded the corner and saw her door wide open. He glanced briefly at her name on the door, along with her roommate's, before practically bursting through the doorway.

Spying a blonde that didn't look a thing like Haley and no sign of the James' clan, he knocked belatedly on the doorframe. The girl spun around surprised and took him in with a suspicious look. "Can I help you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Haley, or really any part of her family," Nathan smiled charmingly, looking around the room and deciding that his girlfriend had most definitely made it to her room. "I'm her boyfriend, Nathan Scott," he added, when the girl continued to stare at him, probably thinking he was some kind of stalker.

"Oh," she muttered, looking embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm Jenna, the roommate. Haley and her family went to grab lunch. I think they said they'd be back in about an hour," Jenna guessed, shrugging her shoulders lightly. "Sorry."

Sighing heavily, Nathan shook his head at his own pathetic behavior. "Thanks, anyway. It was nice to meet you," he quickly stepped backward and headed to his own side of the dorms. It probably wouldn't have hurt to be a little more polite to the girl, after all she would most likely end up kicked out of her own room some nights.

Nathan moved quickly through the halls, throwing out random "Hey's" to those he hadn't seen before. Pushing gratefully into his own room, he heard the familiar strums of his roommate's guitar before collapsing into his bed. "Hey, man. I thought you'd be gone for a little longer," Jake quietly questioned, rolling towards the side of his bed in his desk chair.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, Nathan flipped onto his side, grabbing the TV remote. "Yeah, so did I," he mumbled, catching Jake's confused look. "They went out to lunch," he elaborated and saw Jake click his tongue in that sympathetic way before going back to plucking at his guitar strings. Nathan sighed, relieved that he had lucked out in the roommate department. Jake was on the team with him but a quiet guy who kept to himself and didn't have any problems with the world, or his chip-on-his-shoulder roommate.

"Want to shoot hoops?" Nathan suggested after five minutes of relative silence.

"Now?" Jake questioned, his eyebrows raising. "With everyone's families around? Just relax, man. I'm sure they'll be back in no time."

Nathan nodded in silent agreement and then folded his hands behind his head, trying to relax on his bed. Across the room, he spied his cell phone which he had stupidly forgotten on his lunch outing. Practically jumping out of bed and lunging across the room, much to Jake's confusion, he grabbed the device and saw that he had two missed calls and a voicemail.

Quickly, he dialed his voicemail and lifted the phone to his ear. Haley's obviously excited voice told him that they were going to drop off her stuff and then go for lunch and that he should stop by anytime after one. In the background he heard a voice that sounded suspiciously like Taylor and rolled his eyes, the perfect addition to his otherwise perfect day.

He crashed back onto his bed in defeat, ignoring the weirded out look Jake shot him. Reluctantly his fingers moved to dial Haley's speed dial number and he was sent to her voicemail. "Hey, call me when you're back on campus. I'm going to try and stop by your room. Love you," he ended the message. His voice was so monotone that he'd be surprised if she didn't think he'd left the message in his sleep.

A moment later, the phone rang in his hand. She must have just missed his call. Immediately he slid the phone open and pressed it to his ear. "Hey, babe," her excited voice coming through the speaker was such a relief that he couldn't stop the smile from spreading. "Did you call?"

"Yeah, sorry, I missed you. I was out to lunch with some of the guys from the team," Nathan responded, letting out a deep breath.

"No, it's fine. My dad was happy, said we could get all my crap unloaded without having to deal with my doting boyfriend," her giggles were heard clearly as Jimmy let out some loud protests in the background. "Just kidding, he loves you…okay, he wouldn't go that far," Haley corrected again, Nathan easily overhearing the older man's voice. "Was it any of the guys who think you shouldn't have a giiiirlllllfriend," she drew out the last word in a deep, mocking voice.

"Maybe," Nathan teased lightly. Some of the guys had been upset _for him_ when they learned that he had a long-time girlfriend, specifically one that would also be on campus. They had told him that he'd come to regret that while he sat and smiled at them placating. "They'll love you once they meet you, no worries. When are you getting back?" he quickly changed the subject to the one he was most interested in.

It had taken a lot of scheming and holding back to conceal from her the fact that they would be living in the same dorm building. He didn't want to blow the surprise over the phone mere minutes before he could do it in person. "Just like twenty minutes. We're getting ready to leave, once Taylor gets back from the bathroom…if she ever gets back from the bathroom. I forgot to tell you that she was coming…" she trailed off hesitantly.

"It's cool. I can deal with Taylor just as long as I get to see you," Nathan returned sweetly and could almost see the pleased smile lighting up her face.

"You're a cornball," she remarked offhandedly. "But just as long as it's for me. Ooh, I spot the wicked witch coming back. That means we can leave. Oh did I tell you? She wanted to tag along cause she feels like taking a campus tour as if she's thinking about transferring," Haley divulged in a stage whisper.

Nathan blew out a short breath, both of them holding back what they really wanted to say that there would be a fat chance the school would take her. "I know, I know," Haley comforted, "but Mommy says it's not good to hurt her feelings." The clamor in the background implied that Lydia knew exactly what her youngest daughter was talking about. "I'll see you in twenty. Meet me there, alright?"

She had hung up so fast that he didn't even get a chance to respond, not that he would disagree with her. Nathan quickly stood and headed over to the mirror. In his frustration he had forgotten all about the preparations he had made for Haley's arrival. The button-down shirt he'd spent all last night trying to iron before commissioning one of the girls who had moved in early to help him had wrinkled when rolled around in his bed. His hair was a mess and he basically looked as if he'd just rolled out of bed.

Angrily, he pulled off the shirt before grabbing the one he'd ironed as a backup, not trusting himself to stay neat for more than half a day. He ran his hands furiously through his hair, trying to get it to fall back down the same way he had gelled it this morning.

"Slow down, man. You look fine and you're making me nervous with all the twitching," Jake called out from his position on his bed. "If she hasn't seen you all summer then I doubt she's going to care about what you're wearing."

"Yeah I know," Nathan responded tersely, still fiddling with his hair. "I just…I care, I guess. Her parents are here, so's her bitch of a sister. Good 471st impression, I guess," he shrugged confused.

Jake was still concentrating on his guitar but seemed to smile. "She's really got you, huh?"

"Aren't you forgetting a word?" Nathan queried as Jake raised an eyebrow at him. "She's got me whipped. Isn't that what you meant to say?" he explained, trying to provoke a response from his normally laid backed roommate.

"Not really," Jake answered shaking his head in disagreement. "It seems you're getting as good as you're giving. I think that's just called a functional relationship, Nate," he elaborated. "You shouldn't worry about what the jackasses on the team say. And you definitely shouldn't let her worry about them. Trust me."

Normally he would respond with something about how Jake should mind his own business but something in the other guy's tone gave him the impression that he was just trying to be helpful. Call it maturity or call it excitement to see Haley but for once Nathan took it at face value. "We're probably going out for dinner. Do you want to come with?" he threw out nonchalantly. Though he roomed with Jake and played on the same team as him, he wouldn't exactly call him a friend but something told him that he might want to.

Jake looked up sharply, obviously surprised by the offer. He nodded hesitatingly before replying with, "Yeah, sure. Just give me a call."

Nathan paced the length of the lobby, nervously wiping his slightly damp hands on his cleaned jeans. He could hear them even before the door opened and quickly moved towards the entrance. His girlfriend came barreling through the opening, jumping up and wrapping herself around him. His arms hugged her just as tight and he couldn't keep from chuckling when the normally reserved Haley dove straight in for a deep kiss.

By the time she pulled back they were both gasping for breath but still managed to beam brightly at each other. The other families in the lobby were watching them curiously, having observed Nathan for the time he was waiting, and couldn't help but smile for the obviously happy couple.

Nathan looked over Haley's shoulder and saw Jimmy with his eyes averted to the TV, Lydia smiling widely at them, and Taylor taking pictures on her phone…probably for future black-mailing purposes. "Hey guys," he greeted weakly, stirring up some amused laughter.

"Come on," Haley slid down his body slowly and he bit his lip to keep from groaning. Nathan could only hope that it wasn't too painfully obvious how much he had missed his girlfriend. "Let's go see my new home," she instructed, pulling him along by the hand. Behind him he heard Lydia mutter something about her "not talking like that" and "always being her baby girl."

Haley pushed open the slightly ajar door, obviously startling the girl already inside. "Second time today," Jenna breathed out, keeping the smile on her face.

"Jenna, this is my boyfriend Nathan," Haley introduced happily, practically bouncing around the room. "Nathan, the roomie Jenna." When they just smiled at each other knowingly, she settled her hands on her hips obviously seeking an explanation.

"He stopped by earlier. Looking for you," Jenna quickly added. She figured being the hussy who was trying to steal her roommate's boyfriend wasn't the best reputation. Not that she was trying because she liked Haley so far and while Nathan was hot she did know how and when to keep her hands off.

Haley let out a relieved smile, not that she had assumed the worst of her new roommate. "Twice in one day. I feel special," she joked, her flighty movements finally stopped by Nathan reaching out and tucking her into his side.

"My parents just called so I'm going to go meet them for a late lunch," Jenna explained, starting for the door. "It was nice meeting you guys and I'm sure I'll see you around a lot, Nathan. Remember my bed's on the left," with a wink and a smile she was gone from the room.

Lydia spoke up next, "We're going to go take a walk around the campus, like Taylor wanted. If we get lost we'll whip out the Bat signal and Nathan can come save us." With another wink and smile, the remainder of the James family was pulled from the room, leaving Haley and Nathan in the empty dorm room.

"Hmm, all this space," Haley wondered out loud, "We should figure out something to do with it." Taking the initiative, Haley spun in Nathan's arms and pushed him back onto the bed that her mother had just finished setting up mere hours ago. Nathan readily laid back, gripping Haley's hips to pull her onto the space with him.

After minutes of excited making out, Nathan pulled back and tried to focus on his surprise. His Haley was undeterred though and continued to ply his neck with kisses while efficiently undoing the buttons of his dress shirt. "You got all dressed up for me," Haley whispered lightly in his ear, giggling at his eager nodding. "That's so cute."

Nathan frowned quickly, his manliness taking offense at being called cute. "Wait, wait," he breathed out, grasping her hands and intertwining their fingers.

Sitting up to straddle his legs Haley just stared at him disbelieving. "Nathan. I have not seen you in nearly three months. I hate to sound like the oversexed one but God knows that my parents and Taylor are going to pop back in here at any given time so how the hell can you say wait with a straight face?"

"Because I have something to show you?" he responded in a meek voice. Under any other circumstances he'd be amused by an overeager, sexed up Haley but she was looking nothing but pissed off at him. "Come on, come on," he urged, pushing her off his legs. Haley only gaped at him as he swung his long legs off the bed and onto the floor. "Don't be stubborn, okay? Just come on."

With obvious reluctance, he managed to drag Haley out of her dorm room and into the hallway. "Close your eyes," he ordered and she glared at him before complying.

"I hate you," Haley muttered under her breath as he covered her eyes with one hand and gripped one of hers with the other.

Nathan pulled her along, scoffing at her remark. "You love me," he retorted easily, navigating around the cardboard boxes strewn throughout the hallway. He lead her through the open door to the lobby and across to the other side of the dorm, the boys side of the dorm. Stopping in front of his own door, he positioned her right in front of it. "Okay, open your eyes."

As Haley did so, she slowly adjusted her eyes to the site in front of her, which was looking increasingly familiar. Her gaze focused on a Welcome sign that boasted Nathan's name and some other boy's. With unnervingly slow movements, Haley leaned forward and peered out the door leading to the lobby. As she suspected, she could see part of her own door at the opposite end of the building.

"What do you think?" Nathan burst out, unable to contain himself anymore, a speechless Haley always served to unnerve him.

Haley spun around, grabbing the opening of his shirt and pulling him down to her eye level. "I can see my door," she told him, her eyes expressing her complete seriousness. "I'm standing at your door and I can see mine," Haley elaborated and Nathan nodded, his smile surely but slowly dying on his lips. "Why can I see my room from yours?"

"Because…we're living in the same building," Nathan offered, highly doubtful that he had given her the proper explanation. Well, it was the right one, just not the one she looked like she wanted to hear. Her eyes slid closed and she let out a deep sigh.

After too long a moment of silence, Haley opened her eyes and smiled tightly at him. "Nathan, we go to the same school," she arched an eyebrow as if it was a question and he nodded in response, "_and_ we live in the same dorm." Nathan repeated the nod, his eyes wide and fearful. Maybe he should have _asked_ first?

And just like she had before, Haley jumped on him, wrapping her legs tight around his waist. While she tried to eagerly kiss him, all he could do was breath a sigh of relief. For a minute there, he thought he had completely screwed up and done something she wasn't comfortable with or didn't want.

"My room. Now!" Haley commanded and Nathan laughingly complied, much to the dismay of their other dormmates.


	7. Roommates

"So when do I get to meet your roomie?" Haley just smiled at Nathan's eye roll. "You've met mine. Hell, you practically live in our room. Is that it? Does he not exist or did you have snipers come in and pick him off early in the summer? If he doesn't exist, then might I suggest hanging out in your room? We would have so many fewer problems with the nakedness and the walking in and whatnot."

Nathan quickly placed his hand over his girlfriend's rambling mouth. Sshe obviously hadn't realized they had entered the lobby where many of the people they lived with were lounging about and watching TV and being informed of their sex lives. He could feel the blush spreading beneath his hand and removed it, knowing that the embarrassment would keep her silent.

"Oops," Haley squeaked out as everyone looked on curiously, not surprised in the slightest. "Sorry, guys. I'm sure that was an overshare in many different ways. We'll be going now," grabbing his hand she practically dragged him out the front door, giggling like mad the entire way.

"Wow, I guess college does take away your inhibitions," Nathan mused, wincing when Haley punched him in the arm.

"Oh, please, I was the one lacking clothes when Jenna walked in and I'm going to be living with her for at least a year so I might as well get used to it," she brushed off the comment, secretly glad her roommate hadn't been hanging out with everyone else when she opened her mouth and inserted her foot.

Goading her, Nathan responded with, "Does that mean you're going to start living in the nude now? I mean, that might be a problem for the other girls but it's not as if you aren't already causing enough."

Rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's smirk, Haley replied, "Shut up, Mr. No-one-will-catch-us-in-the-showers. Do you know how freaking embarrassing that was?" Nathan just smirked some more, remembering being out in the lobby when the girls' Resident Adviser called the meeting. "I didn't think this would be a problem but no hooking up in the bathrooms, lounges, or laundry room," Haley mocked in a high voice.

"Your RA doesn't even sound like that," Nathan protested. "Besides, Kelly Anderson was just as red as you were so I don't think we're the only problems."

"Yeah, but Kelly Anderson probably doesn't live with the guy she hooked up with so I don't think that's going to be a problem for her anymore. You, on the other hand…" Haley just trailed off, waving her hand at him dismissively. Nathan gaped at her, slightly offended but knowing that she was right. "Back to the topic at hand, your roomie?"

"Is much too busy to be making small talk with my girlfriend," Nathan answered in a clipped tone, waving his hand at her the same way she had done to him. "I don't know…he's in our room most of the time. I'm assuming he leaves every once in a while for food, classes, and practice but you could probably just pop in and he'd be there."

"Do you have his number?" Haley suddenly asked, stopping his movements by jerking on his hand slightly.

Nathan looked down, not amused by her stopping his quest for food. It wasn't enough that they lived in the farthest dorms on campus and had to walk ten minutes to get food, she had to stop walking too. "Yeah, of course," Nathan replied steadily.

"Well, call him. It sounds like he doesn't get out too much. You should invite him to have lunch with us," Haley suggested, giving him the smile that never failed to get her what she wanted. "Come on," she urged when he made a face.

"The last time I asked if he wanted to come to dinner when your parents were still here. He said 'yes' at first but changed his mind," Nathan revealed to a distraught Haley. "Sometimes I just can't figure out that kid. He's nice enough, easy to live with, good ball player but he just can't socialize or something."

Haley scrunched up her nose in deep thought. "Sounds like Lucas. Maybe he has girl issues."

Nathan just laughed at her expression, "Not everyone's as broody as Luke. In fact I don't think anyone is as broody as Luke. I don't think Jake has girl problems…although he was weirdly sensitive and encouraging the other day when I was freaking out about you."

"Why didn't you mention this before?" Haley huffed, grabbing his cell phone out of his hand. "A nice, quiet guy who doesn't have issues with you being in a long-term relationship…of course you aren't friends with him. And why haven't I heard about this before?"

Nathan sighed, stealing back his cell phone and holding it high above his head. He simply laughed at her unsuccessful attempts to jump and reach it before answering, "Because it was move in day and I wasn't exactly all that concerned about the roommate. And I was freaking out about how you would react to the whole 'living in the same dorm' thing. Then you kept me nice and occupied after so it's not entirely my fault."

"I've been meaning to mention something about that," Haley revealed when she took a break from the jumping. "Never, ever, ever make a decision for me like that again. I mean it, Nathan. It was a pleasant surprise this time but next time I can't guarantee there won't be any bodily harm. I came to this school to expand my horizons, meet new people, and all that good stuff. Having you here is such a good thing but I don't want us to be one of those couples that hold each other back."

"Gotcha," Nathan responded brightly. He thought that after getting into college together all the future talk would stop at least for the next few years. "But what about when I…" he teased, smirking at the cool glare she leveled onto him. "Alright then, calling roommate," Nathan reported, flashing the cell phone screen at her.

"I have a better idea. Let's order a pizza and eat in your room. I've never even seen the inside, just the door," Haley reminded him, as she started tugging his hand back towards their dorm.

Nathan sighed, letting her drag him a few feet. "You're aware that lobby is full of people that just heard details on part of our sex life?" She nodded and kept up with the pulling. He sighed again, hating that he had to use this as a last resort. "I don't know, Hales. I don't think he should have to put up with this much in one day."

"This much? One day?" Haley repeated back confused. "Okay, boyfriend, what aren't you telling me?"

"Dad's coming. He called last night and invited us out to dinner. Jake, for some bizarre reason, agreed. Somehow I don't feel right springing my girlfriend and my formerly-psycho Dad on the guy," Nathan explained, watching the curiosity form in her expression.

Haley crossed her arms, staring up at him expectantly. "And you just weren't going to tell me this? Were you going to wait and show up at my room in a bad mood, probably give Jenna the scare of her life, and all because you and your father are incapable of handling your tempers around each other?"

"No," Nathan petulantly pouted. "I just wanted to see if I could do it. Get through a dinner with him without you there mediating our every move. I know you kind of hate being around him, too, and I figured Jake would take away some of the attention anyway."

"So what? You were going to sacrifice your roommate to prove a point? Nathan, I truly don't mind being around Dan, not if it helps you. But I am glad you're willing to try with him and rebuild your relationship," Haley smiled, her hands moving to lightly rest on his waist.

Nathan smiled back down on her, "It's just dinner. Don't expect too much." Haley just nodded, agreeing amicably, before pushing her lips up to his. "Fine, fine, you can meet Jake," he sighed out, wincing at the squeal she let out.

Before he knew it, they were at his door and she threw the door open without so much as a warning. Jake's head shot up in surprise and the guitar nearly fell out of his frozen hands.

"Oh my god!" Haley exclaimed, rushing forward and instinctively avoiding the piles of clothes on the floor. "You play the guitar," her eyes were wide with wonder and Jake chuckled, shooting an amused glance at his roommate. "My brother, Adam, gave me his old one except he didn't have much time to teach me how to actually play and it's sitting under my bed right now and I'm almost positive it's lonely and will you teach me?"

Jake's jaw dropped open and his eyebrow quirked in response to the jumble of words she had just dropped on him. She was staring at him so expectantly that he did the only thing he could think of. "Hi, I'm Jake," he answered, sticking his hand out for her to shake.

"Haley," she replied, lightly shaking his hand. A bright blush quickly appeared and she slowly stepped back from his chair. "Sorry, I haven't rambled like that in forever. I'm just…you're a basketball player who can play the guitar and is apparently really nice. You're like this anomaly! This is not making things better," she mumbled the last part to herself, her bottom lip fleeing between her teeth.

Nathan approached from behind and wrapped his arms around her, relieved when she settled against him. "Sorry, Jake. This is my girlfriend, Haley. She's really pleased to meet you. And we both apologize for the rambling."

"Not that I need Nathan to talk for me. I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself. I did get in here after all and I'm not making a very good impression, am I?" she questioned quietly, taking in the look of silent incredulity on Jake's face.

"No, you're making a great impression," Jake swore, seeing how worried the petite girl was. "You're just like Nathan described," he offered.

"Oh so you routinely describe me as a babbling idiot who can hardly control herself around normal people just because they possess an interesting skill," Haley questioned, craning her neck to get a good look at her boyfriend's face.

"No, of course not," Nathan promised, "just when you actually do act like a babbling "idiot" who can barely control herself. Normally, you're really nice and pretty and smart."

"Anyway, Jake," Haley scoffed, disbelieving. "We were just about to order a pizza. You haven't had lunch yet, have you?" Jake shook his head 'no' and was about to open his mouth when she continued, "Good, I'll offer you some survival tips on how to deal with Papa Scott. Just be glad his grandfather's not coming down too because three generations of Scott men is not something you ever want to experience."

Both boys shared a look as she grabbed Nathan's laptop and proceeded to make herself comfortable on his bed.

***

Nathan strolled purposefully through the girl's side before stopping short when he found his intended target reading in the study lounge. He leaned against the glass, watching her bob her head to whatever was pouring out of her headphones. Having her with him for this experience was still something he could barely wrap his head around. All he knew was that he would never be more eager to rearrange heavy ass furniture as he was two weeks ago.

He must have been staring for too long because Haley glanced up then and smiled, gesturing for him to come in. "Hey, how'd it go?" she asked, removing her headphones. "Did Jake survive? Is the restaurant suing you for property damage? Is your dad driving home in one piece?"

"Yes, no, and yes," Nathan replied, leaning down to briefly kiss her. He grabbed a chair and spun it around before collapsing into it.

"Well, then, what went wrong?" Haley questioned, "You were looking pretty thoughtful behind that door."

Nathan just smirked, "Why do you assume something went wrong? Nothing went wrong. I was just thinking about how amazing it is that you're here. That we're both here."

"Nothing? Nothing at all went wrong?" she continued to ask, ignoring his last statements.

Shaking his head, he chuckled before picking up her hand. "Not a thing. Dad barely mentioned basketball, just asked how practice was going. We spent practically the whole dinner talking about Pennsylvania, Jake's from there. It was actually kind of weird. Jake, someone completely new and unassuming, met Dad and didn't think he was the devil."

"Wow," Haley gaped, open-mouthed at him. "I'm not one to deny that Dan's made some progress but not-the-Devil is certainly a step up for him. I still can't really believe that he drove three and a half hours to have dinner with you and is going back to Tree Hill tonight."

"He's trying to prove that he cares about me outside of basketball. I hate to say it, but I'm actually starting to believe him," Nathan joked. "How's your night been so far?"

"Good, good," she smiled at him. "Went to dinner with Jen and some of our neighbors. I've been reading," Haley exclaimed proudly. "I barely did any over the summer and I was starting to feel a little illiterate." Nathan winced slightly, sometimes it was not easy getting along with Haley's bookish side. "You can relax, boyfriend. I know the last thing you read was the news ticker on ESPN."

"Hey, I play to my strengths," Nathan responded, shrugging dismissively. "Where's Jenna?"

"In our room. Studying, like the good little freshman we aspire to be," Haley quipped, ignoring the slightly offended look on Nathan's face. "Whatever, you know I'm going to have to blackmail you into going to classes later."

"With what, I wonder?" Nathan teased suggestively. He easily pulled her out of her chair and onto his own lap. "That's more like it," he mumbled as her lips eagerly moved to cover his own.

"We aren't doing this here," Haley managed to break off as his hands started wandering. "Seriously, Nathan, anyone could walk by," she was already breathless by the end of the statement. Arguments were so much harder to make with Nathan skillfully unhooking her bra. "Okay, we're doing this here."

Minutes later, two girly shrieks sounded along with the unmistakable sound of masculine laughter.


	8. Party

Jenna shot another wary look across the room as she attempted to focus on the cute, nice freshman from New Jersey in front of her. It was getting harder by the moment as a certain someone stumbled their way over to a half-occupied couch, trailed closely by another certain someone.

Sighing, she couldn't help but slump her shoulders in defeat as she excused herself from the guy in the middle of one of his sentences. She dodged and weaved her way through the crowd, a massive one at that for the first week of school, and made it to said couch. "Nathan, hi, remember me?" she questioned, wishing that she could shoo away the blonde like a gnat. Said blonde looked up in annoyance, which Jenna refused to acknowledge.

"Jenna!" Nathan exclaimed, the smirk was obvious as he sank further back into the couch.

"Yeah, yeah, Jenna," she agreed, good-natured. "Your girlfriend's roommate? Remember that, too?" At this point she turned to address the blonde still staring her down. "Yeah, he does have a girlfriend. Better luck next time though. Buh-bye," she dismissed her, waving her off quickly. "We should get you back to your room, my room, a room," she settled on saying as his drunken state became more and more apparent.

A firm but gentle hand on her shoulder caused her to turn her head. Behind her was a very attractive brunette with slightly curly hair. Her eyebrows went up in curiosity before she forced herself to focus in on the problem. "I got him," the mystery man declared. Her gaze shot down to the beer bottle he held in hand, though he was still obviously sober. "Listen, he's got a girlfriend. I don't know where she is right now but I'm going to get him home so you can just…" he shrugged his shoulders, leaving the statement open.

"Oh, no, no, I'm his girlfriend's roommate, Jenna," she offered, quickly tucking back a stray piece of hair and offering her hand. The bright red blush that appeared on his cheeks was absolutely adorable. "Haley's out to dinner with one of her older brothers. I don't think Nathan gets along well with him or something. I was going to put him back. Alone."

"Sorry, I didn't mean that the way it sounded," he apologized, shaking his head at himself. "I'm Jake, Nathan's roommate," Jake gestured down at his inebriated teammate and was surprised to find him gone. "Oh, wow," he scratched at the back of his head, "guess he moves fast even drunk."

"Yeah," Jenna replied, a little startled herself at Nathan's disappearing act. "We should probably find him, huh?"

"Oh yeah," Jake chuckled, absently taking her elbow to lead her to other parts of the house. "He's not normally like this. I mean, he doesn't normally drink this much. Just some of the upperclassmen players were feeding him shots," he tried to explain, shrugging slightly. "So where'd you say you were from?"

***

Haley was surprised to find the dry erase board hanging on her door, covered in writing, or more accurately, a flow chart. It seemed to start at their dorm, lead to Greek letters she was going to assume was a frat, then a keg, a stick figure of a girl with devil horns, a car, and finally split off in two directions, both arrows leading to a number. Haley let out a quiet laugh at her roommate's ingenuity. Something told her living with Jenna was going to make for an interesting year.

Quickly, she unlocked her door and pushed it in, tiptoeing into the darkened room. From the light in the hallway she could easily make out her sleeping boyfriend sprawled out over her covers. If he was in here, then she could assume the other number would be Nathan's room. But why would Jenna be in there?

More important matters pushed their way to the forefront as Nathan started tossing with the added light. Haley quickly kicked the door shut, wincing when it slammed hard against the frame and wincing again when Nathan tossed on the bed and looked up at her with bleary eyes. Immediately she reached for her desk lamp and switched it on, Nathan blinking slowly against the light.

"Hey," she greeted with a small smile as she made her way towards the bed.

"Hey, Hales," he responded, his voice husky from a combination of sleep and the alcohol he consumer earlier. A lazy smile spread across his face as she kicked away her shoes and threw off the sweatshirt she had been wearing.

Haley quickly changed to her pajamas before climbing into bed, Nathan grabbing weakly at her arms to help her up. "Fun night?" she questioned, safely tucked into his side. Nathan merely mumbled in response and they both rapidly fell asleep.

***

"Hey kids!"

The perky voice woke Haley from her peaceful slumber and she lifted her head from Nathan's chest to see Jenna entering the room, wrapped in a towel with her pajamas in hand. She swatted at Nathan's shoulder and lifted herself slightly so that he had room to turn over, facing the wall.

"Hangover's not going to be fun for him," Jenna chuckled quietly as Nathan jammed his head under the pillow, slightly disregarding the fact that Haley's had been lying on top of it. "How was the brother?" she asked when Haley sat up in bed, frowning at her obviously grouchy boyfriend.

"Fine," Haley mumbled still in a sleep-induced daze. She thought about lying back down but suffocating the would-be star basketball player, and not to mention the love of her life, didn't seem like a very good idea. "How was the partying?" she returned, climbing over Nathan to sit with her back against the wall, legs thrown over his.

After pulling a t-shirt on, Jenna shrugged, "Over-rated. I wasn't a big drinker in high school, don't know why I thought I'd be one now." Haley marveled at how the girl threw her towel over the closet door and took a seat at her desk. A week in and she swore the blonde was the most low-maintenance bombshell she'd ever encountered, at least in comparison to Brooke and even Peyton. "I met Jake though. He seems nice except for when he thought I was trying to hook up with Nathan."

"What?" Haley questioned with an amused laugh. Jake had to be the most introverted guy she had ever met. She could hardly imagine how awkward the boy would feel at a party, much less trying to keep a girl from hitting on his drunk, taken roommate.

"Yeah, he was all embarrassed when I told him I was your roommate," Jenna chuckled, "It was pretty cute."

Haley smiled conspiratorially. "Well, Jake is a cutie. How was spending the night in their room? Which you didn't have to do by the way. I mean, nothing would have happened when I got back. I'm just saying," Haley stuttered through the explanation, finally covering her reddening face with her hands.

It didn't help matters when Jenna burst out laughing. "I'm sorry," she finally responded, slightly out of breath. "You do know there are rumors about you two. I don't believe them or anything because, well, I live with you and I know you do other things besides have sex all the time. But we don't need any rumors of a kinky threesome or something like that."

Nathan grumbled from beneath the pillow, part delayed reaction to Haley calling Jake cute and part in response to the threesome comment. Haley rubbed a gentle hand over his back and he immediately settled down again, relaxing further on the mattress.

"You are not helping the situation," Haley accused, well aware that her roommate was yanking her chain.

"Haley," Jenna sighed, "Like I said in the summer, we'll just see how things go. I mean, I normally have a good read on people and call me crazy but I honestly doubt that we're going to end up hating each other and Nathan seems like a nice guy. We'll just have to see how things go."

"Right," Haley agreed with a nod of her head. They had talked a few times over the summer about who would bring what or what kind of pet peeves the other had. A main topic of discussion had been boys, mainly what to do with Haley's boyfriend and Jenna's lack of one since she had just broken up with her boyfriend of a year. They had decided to see how well they got along with each other in person and figure out from there how much time Nathan could spend in their room, especially when Jenna was in it.

Jenna laughed to herself and Haley raised a questioning eyebrow. "Sorry, I was just wondering how long this honeymoon phase thing would last. I've heard some stories, not that they were as bad as some of the other girls, but damn. My mother would have me sent to a nunnery if she ever caught wind of some of those rumors." She let out a low whistle, shaking her head in mock disapproval.

"Well," Haley started off, seriously, "what can I say? That's all he's good for."

The girls cracked up loudly at that. Nathan bellowed out, "I'm still here!" from under the pillow and they only laughed louder.


	9. Past, Present, and Future

Turning the key in the lock, Haley was slightly surprised when it was met with no resistance. Haley stumbled into her darkened room and moved to switch on her desk light. She surveyed Jenna's side of the room and was surprised to see her roommate's bed unoccupied and even more surprised to find Nathan passed out in her own bed.

Sighing lightly, she dropped her bookbag next to her desk, the dull thud awakening her slumbering boyfriend. He rolled over to face her and mumbled out a throaty "Hey." Haley patted his leg in acknowledgement before switching her jeans for plaid pajama pants and stripping off her t-shirt and bra. Nathan watched attentively as she quickly rummaged through her dresser for one of his Ravens shirts and then went to brush her teeth.

"Where's Jenna?" Haley questioned softly as she slid into bed with him, his arm immediately settling around her waist. Nathan mumbled something into her hair but she could only make out the words "Jake" and "room." It concerned her since Jake apparently wasn't making as much progress as Jenna had hoped but she certainly wasn't one to complain.

"Brooke emailed me today," Haley spoke, hoping that Nathan was coherent enough to remember her words in the morning. Hearing him sigh, she felt him shift back slightly to rest on his back, pulling her with him. "She's going to be cheering at the NC State football game. She's demanded that we stop having sex long enough to go out to dinner with her."

Nathan threw an arm over his eyes, shielding himself from his girlfriend's pearly whites. He had hoped, after high school, to be free of Brooke Davis but that apparently wasn't going to happen. "Fine, just remind me the Friday before or something."

"She's "seeing" a guy on the football team. She thinks you two would get along," Haley told him, pulling his arm down.

Nathan felt himself scoffing despite his exhaustion. "I don't want to get along with any guy who would date Brooke Davis," he returned, rolling his eyes, "especially not a football player. Even I thought she had better taste than that."

"I don't care what sport he plays, just be nice. He sounds like a good guy, for once. And I got a postcard from Tim today. It's in my backpack," she mumbled into his shirt, the tiredness contagious.

Nathan felt her squirming atop him, presumably to get the postcard out of her bag, and in retaliation he gripped her tighter. "I don't need to see it," he insisted, never loosening his hold. "And who still sends postcards these days?"

"Um, your best friend. I don't know…it's unique," Haley defended, thumping him lightly on the chest. Nathan just grunted in response, his breathing beginning to even out again. "Don't you want to know what it said?" she questioned, indignant that he had fallen asleep on her.

"Haley, shut up and go to bed," Nathan gruffly ordered, his mind not catching up to his mouth. Two seconds later his eyes flew open as a weight landed on his chest. He looked up to see his pissed off girlfriend sitting cross-legged on his upper stomach. "You're crushing my diaphragm," he wheezed out, worried that she'd be offended by the implication. Thankfully she wasn't and just settled on his lower stomach.

"You don't want to talk to me," Haley pouted, slightly, or more than slightly, put off by her boyfriend's blasé attitude.

Nathan sighed, hearing the pout in her voice. "I'll talk to you when I'm not dead tired from practice and can actually remember what you're saying. Tell me now and you'll only get pissed off when you have to repeat it in the morning. Please go to bed, babe."

She didn't say anything but she did climb off his chest and stretch out alongside him. Nathan let out a silent 'thank you' and whispered a good night into her hair, the familiar feeling of her body against his drawing him back into sleep.

The next morning he woke with the room still in relative darkness and squinted across the room at the clock on the microwave. "Hales," he urgently whispered, nudging her shoulder gently. "You're going to be late for class," Nathan murmured into her ear, using a hand to lightly massage her shoulder.

"Mmm," Haley sighed, wrapping her arms tighter around his waist and snuggling further into his chest. "Cancelled," she managed to mumble out, sighing happily when he stopped prodding at her.

In a few short moments Haley had peacefully fallen back asleep on his chest, leaving an extremely bored Nathan trapped beneath her. "Hales," he whispered again, this time rubbing her back with one hand. She murmured something into his chest and just seemed to relax even further. "Haley," Nathan spoke at normal voice. He didn't want to wake her but she'd either have to entertain him or let him get out of bed.

"What! What?" she blew out frustrated, her head coming up off his chest. Nathan just pouted at her and Haley sleepily rolled her eyes at his "Bored. Amuse me now." face. "No," she grumpily replied, purposefully burrowing her head into his chest. When she felt it rumbling beneath her cheek, she sighed, lifting her eyes to his. "What happened to shut up and go to bed?"

"Maybe if you'd listened to me the first time instead of arguing about it, you wouldn't be so tired," he grumbled out under the heat of her glare. "Let me up," he whined, pushing at her shoulder lightly until she rolled onto her side.

Haley pouted as Nathan slid out from beneath her, pulling on his sweats that he'd left on the floor. "Yeah because those two minutes I spent protesting mattered so much," she quipped, fluffing her pillow to get it as comfortable as her boyfriend's chest. "Go, go," Haley commanded, waving a hand towards the door. "I'm much too fatigued to deal with the likes of you," she continued with a mock British accent.

Nathan just chuckled at his girlfriend's dramatics and grabbed his backpack from where he'd dropped it the night before. "Sleep tight," he replied, leaning over her body to lightly kiss her forehead. Carefully he pulled up the covers that he had kicked off getting out of bed and slipped out of the room.

***

"Nathan!"

He groaned at the loud voice waking him from his deep slumber. Cracking an eye open, he affirmed that it was in fact his psycho girlfriend standing on the foot of his bed and staring down at him expectantly. With a simple movement of his feet, he could throw her off balance, hopefully sending her sprawling across his body. Then he could go back to sleep and much more comfortably.

"Nathan!"

"Damn it, woman!" he tried to yell but it came out as a mere grunt. He just had to move his feet, then all would be well. Then again, she could go flying in the other direction and crack her head on the floor which would also make her shut up, but wouldn't be very good. As she stepped on his leg, letting out a breathless 'oops,' he forgot why that wouldn't be good.

"Nathan! It's almost noon! Wake up!"

The voice had moved to right next to his ear. Blindly, he reached out with his hand until he encountered his girlfriend and used one arm to pull her close to him, slipping a hand over her mouth. "Shh," Nathan whispered into her ear as she squirmed in his grip. "Go to sleep, Hales," he murmured, nuzzling his head into the crook of her neck.

"Sleep?" she repeated back to him but thankfully at a much more reasonable volume. "You want me to sleep? Nathan, I've already been up for three hours waiting for YOU to wake up. We have to go to the football game today."

Widening his eyes, Nathan stared at her incredulously. "You want me to go to a football game to watch Brooke cheer? Like I've seen her do for the past four years at every single one of my basketball games except this time for the other team? I know the football team's good this year but no way in hell, Hales! Find someone else to torture! Like Jake!"

"Nathan! Jake's already at the game!"

Groaning, Nathan flipped over and buried his face in his pillow, trying to drown out her voice. He had no idea what god he had pissed off but surely someone somewhere was having a ball watching him suffer. For starters, during the past week the only times he had "seen" Haley was when they were both exhausted and passed out with barely two words to the other. And now, now that it was finally the weekend and he could catch up on sleep and spend some time with his girl, she wanted to drag him to a football game of all things to see Brooke of all people. Yep, someone hated him.

"Haley!" Nathan yelled, unable to stand her shouting any longer. The look in her eyes quickly changed from annoyed to straight up pissed off for being yelled at. "Please! I'm begging you. Lay here and be quiet or find something to do until we have to meet Brooke for dinner because I plan on sleeping till then. If you're lucky I might actually get up and shower before we go."

Rubbing at his eyes, he turned onto his back and slammed his head back down on the pillow, reluctantly pleased with himself for shocking her silent. He felt her shifting on the small space of bed next to him and was surprised when her side pressed lightly into his, her lower body somehow beneath the covers. Scrunching his forehead, he felt her gaze concentrated on his face and sighed. "What?"

"You're pretty," Haley remarked in a teasing voice, tracing down the curve of his jaw with the tip of a finger. "Really pretty," she giggled this time, recognizing the pout on his lips.

Nathan cracked an eye open, shooting her a glare from the corner of his eye. She smiled brightly in response and moved in to leave a smacking kiss on his cheek. "You're distracting me," he mumbled, trying to sound annoyed but overwhelmingly charmed by her bright eyes. "You're not shouting anymore but you're not letting me sleep…on purpose," he added as an afterthought, resisting a smile as Haley shrugged innocently. "Innocent, my ass. Why aren't you storming out?" Nathan grumbled at her as she chuckled.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, moving her head to rest on his broad shoulder before pressing a kiss against the side of his neck. "I just…we've been so busy lately," she murmured into his ear and he grunted in response. "I miss spending time with you. Don't you—"

"I miss you too," Nathan cut her off gruffly, not allowing her to finish the question. "You don't have to ask, you know that." He slipped an arm under her shoulders and drew her closer to his side. "I just want a little sleep. Brooke's going to be tiring and it's going to be worse making nice with some guy I could care less about. I just want a little sleep," he repeated, calmed by her hand rubbing lightly over his chest.

"Don't you think it'll be nice seeing one of our friends again?" Haley questioned, her curiosity piqued. She thumped him lightly over his heart, prompting him to answer.

"I don't really care, Hales. You're the only one I need around. Maybe if it was Luke coming to visit," Nathan muttered, already half-asleep. He was aware of just the faintest touch of her lips to his before he mumbled an 'I love you' and drifted off.

Nathan woke up to fingers running softly through his hair and sighed peacefully. Somehow Haley had managed to sit up, her back to the wall, and maneuver his head into her lap while he had hugged her legs to him. "You're up," she commented quietly as he looked up at her. She bent her head to brush a simple kiss against his forehead and he smirked lazily in response. "We won. 25-23," Haley gestured to the TV across the room.

The TV was on mute and showing a local channel that was still replaying the game highlights. "That's good," he mumbled, his throat scratchy. "What time's it?" he questioned slowly, looking around the room for some kind of time-keeping device. No wonder he and Jake could never get to practice or classes on time.

"Ten to five," Haley responded, smiling at his bedhead and bleary eyes. "You should shower and get ready. We're meeting Brooke and Evan at the Village Tavern at six." Nathan nodded in agreement, pushing his upper body off the bed. He leant up to give her a kiss and she knowingly kept her lips pressed tightly together. "Brush your teeth, babe," she ordered, lightly slapping at his butt when he reluctantly turned to get out of bed.

Nathan forcefully jammed his toothbrush into his mouth, turning back around to face her as she resituated his pillows behind her. "Aren't you going to change?" he asked, removing the toothbrush for a moment. She must have left his room for a few minutes since she had first come in with jeans and a hooded light pink sweater but was now dressed in sweats and a Ravens t-shirt.

"And miss the striptease?" Haley asked with a teasing smile. She laughed loudly at what he imagined was the look on his face and he turned back to the sink, spitting out the toothpaste. "Aw, I'm sorry, babe. I just figured I could get some more use out of my Boy Toy," she smirked, easily recalling the Boy Toy Auction during their senior year. It had been a repeat of his stripping junior year, only this time she'd gotten a private show.

"Never again," Nathan warned her, shaking a mock stern finger at her. He swiftly crawled on top of her, kissing her passionately and easily slipping his tongue between her parted lips. "Eager to kiss me now?" he asked playfully as she grinned up at him.

Haley nodded her head quickly, both hands coming up to grasp his face and pull him back towards her. "Minty fresh," she quipped, covering his lips with hers. "Now go shower," she pushed him away lightly, laughing at his look of disappointment. "Don't look at me like I just kicked a puppy. Go shower."

"You might as well have kicked something else," Nathan shot back, pouting at her. Grudgingly, he settled his feet back against the cool tile and pulled off his t-shirt and boxers, reaching for the towel hanging on the back of the door. "Go get dressed," he mocked her tone, closing the towel around his waist and breezing out the door.

Twenty minutes later, he walked back into his room to find her sitting at his desk and playing with his laptop. She had redressed into the jeans and sweater and brushed her hair out, the ends slightly curling over her shoulders. "You look nice," Nathan complimented, beginning to dig through his closet for something to wear.

"Thank you," Haley returned distractedly, "On your bed." Her hand flew up to gesture behind her and he glanced over to his bed to find jeans and an ironed blue polo shirt laid out. "We should probably get there a little early. The restaurant will probably be full since it's Saturday and a lot of people are in town for the game."

"Whenever you want to go," Nathan mumbled, carefully pulling the shirt over his head. "Ready now if you want," he offered when she didn't respond to him. Quietly he approached the chair, leaning down towards her shoulder to faintly catch the scent of her perfume. "What are you looking at?" he asked curiously, peering at the screen.

"Nothing," Haley quickly returned, spinning around to meet him. Before he could even read two words, she had hit a few buttons on the keyboard and shut down the window. "You ready?" she questioned, smiling brightly at him. Nathan just shot her a funny look before standing up and reaching his hand out to hers.

He grabbed his car keys from the top shelf of his desk and pulled her out to the parking lot behind him. "What were you looking at?" Nathan questioned again as they settled into the car. He started the engine, turning down the stereo when the speakers began to blare out rap music.

"Nothing," Haley shrugged again with a tight lipped smile. He sent her another look before she made a face and sighed. "Fine. It was just this program called Teach For America. They train people to teach disadvantaged kids in inner-city schools. I mean they only take college graduates so it's not something I would…I was just looking at the site," she shrugged half-heartedly, cutting off her own ramble.

"Are you kidding?" Nathan asked incredulously, glancing over at her every few seconds to see her fallen expression.

She moved her gaze out the window and sighed. "I know. I know. It's not something I'd be good at. I was just looking," she repeated, obviously put off.

Nathan imitated her sigh wishing he wasn't driving so that he could hit himself. "I meant are you kidding that sounds amazing and you'd be great at it. If it's something you really want to do, Hales, I think you should look into it more and apply after graduation."

"It does sound interesting, doesn't it?" Haley asked, her words coming out more confident. "I don't know. I know we have four years here but I was thinking about what I would do after we graduate. I was thinking grad school for who knows what but maybe I'll take a year off and do that…teach. What do you think?"

"That you'll be great at it," Nathan repeated confidently, "Or grad school. You'd be great at anything. Especially if I'm around."

"Especially," Haley agreed, leaning over the center console to peck his lips as he pushed the car into park. "Okay, now that my mini-breakdown over the future is done, you want to go eat?" she could only laugh as Nathan nodded eagerly and threw his door open, racing across the parking lot.

The restaurant was nearly full as Haley had expected and minutes after they were seated, more people and sports fanatics poured in from the growing cold. Haley recognized the distinct laugh of her high school friend and made Nathan stand up to use his height and long arms to wave down Brooke and her date as they pushed through the crowd.

Nathan noticeably leaned away from the two females when they started squealing and embraced each other in enthusiastic hugs. He shared a look with the decently tall brunette who had just removed his hand from Brooke's and they lightly chuckled together. "Natey," Brooke teasingly called as she tiptoed to kiss his cheek. He smiled at her briefly before his fidgeting hands encircled Haley's waist and his eyes were drawn to the flat screen TV behind the bar.

"Nathan, Haley, this is Evan. Evan, this is the old married couple," Brooke playfully introduced them, smiling brightly when Haley drew him into a short hug and Nathan didn't lunge for his throat, instead heartily shaking his hand.

The girls sat next to each other with their respective dates across from them and quickly slipped into a loud conversation, leaving the two males in awkward silence. "So I hear you're the next big thing for Wake basketball," Evan remarked casually, as they studied their menus with forced concentration.

Nathan let out a practiced laugh of modesty, glancing over at the football player and overtly sizing him up. "That's what they call me," he returned humbly. "I didn't think you'd be into basketball. Brooke said you play for NC State football."

"Keep your voice down. I don't feel like getting jumped today, even though we did lose," Evan joked good-naturedly. "I'm from Fayetteville. I grew up loving basketball. I also grew up with the crappiest jump shot in my entire high school league. We can't all be superstars," he shrugged, "Not like you, man."

"Guess not," Nathan returned with an appreciative smirk. He glanced across the table at the two laughing girls and was mildly surprised when, without even looking, Haley reached over the place settings to grasp his hand in hers, comfortingly rubbing her thumb along the back of his hand. Her head turned slightly, not enough to alert Brooke that she had withdrawn from their conversation, and they shared a small smile as her eyes caught his.

"You do know that I'll have to kill you if you hurt her," Nathan alerted Evan in a quieted voice. Evan nodded in agreement, his own eyes trained on the smiling brunette across from him. Overhearing his protective threat, Haley squeezed his hand in appreciation, and they returned to their previous actions: the girls chattering away while the boys watched in companionable silence.


	10. Halloween

"Scott!"

Nathan turned to see one of the older players following him out of the gym and quickly slowed before plastering a smile on his face. "What's up, man?" he greeted, as upbeat as he could sound after their killer practice.

"Listen, some of the guys…they're getting a charter bus to take us to Franklin Street on Halloween. You're in, right?" Immediately Tyler Hale read the hesitation on the freshman's face and shook his head slightly, sighing. "Scott, you were cool over summer when we were in training and you're a damn good player. But, to be honest, the team doesn't know you. You have a girlfriend and I can respect that, unlike some of the idiots we play with," he joked before turning serious again. "But it wouldn't kill you to do a little team bonding."

Nodding solemnly, Nathan had to admit that the junior had a point. He couldn't be a team leader if the team didn't trust him and, as of now, they barely even saw him outside of practice. "I'll think about it. I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

"You can bring…Haley, right? A lot of the other guys are bringing…girls, too. It's a pretty big bus," Tyler added. "When I met her, she didn't seem the partying type so you guys can always just crash in the bus if you get tired or something."

"Thanks, man, really. But I got to talk to Haley first. I don't want to make any plans without…" he trailed off, a sour look crossing his face as the center chuckled and shook his head slowly. "Actually, yeah, we'll come. I know she doesn't have anything major to do so it'll be fun, right?"

Tyler raised his eyebrows suspiciously, surprised by the freshman's sudden change in attitude. "You sure you don't want to ask her? No rush, man."

Nathan nodded his head eagerly. "Yeah, she'll be cool with it. Sign us up."

"If you say so," he agreed doubtfully before glancing down at his watch. "Have a good weekend, kid."

Nathan scoffed lightly at the 'kid' but turned and continued onto his destination: Haley's bed. He quickly kicked his shoes off outside of her door, mindful of the complaints he often got from his own girlfriend and Jenna. Popping into the room, he nearly tripped over her backpack before catching himself.

"Sorry, babe," she muttered without even turning around. "Can you throw that over?"

Grabbing the offending object, he dropped it next to her desk before launching himself into her bed. "Hello?" At the question, Nathan opened his eyes and glanced over at his girlfriend, her rarely-used reading glasses perched on the end of her nose as she peeked over them. He gave her a questioning look and she scoffed, "Get your smelly butt out of bed and off my clean sheets and go shower! You smell like a locker room!"

"Love you, too, babe," he muttered crossly, dragging himself out of the room to comply with her demands. When he came back twenty minutes later, Haley was still in the same position only this time her fingers were massaging her temples as she let out multiple deep sighs.

"What's up?" Nathan questioned, stepping behind her. He leaned down to pop a kiss on her cheek before setting to work massaging her shoulders as she murmured her thank you.

"That research paper I have in History? Muldroch wants to see a draft by Tuesday and on top of that he's pushing up the final draft, the first draft of the essay on Reconstruction, _and_ our test to ready? the day after Halloween! How much does that suck?" Haley mumbled darkly. "There go my trick-or-treating plans."

Nathan's hands froze in place and she sighed again. "Are your hands hurting? Sorry, you can stop now. This stuff is do-able. I'm just bitter over losing my Halloween. But you should totally send Muldroch roses or something because he just saved you from dressing up as Danny from Grease."

An attempt at a laugh escaped his throat. "At least you wouldn't have gone around with a notecard explaining the true history of All Hallow's Eve to little kids, right?" he recovered, remembering the complete "experience" of a James family Halloween. The poor unsuspecting children that rang the doorbell were like lambs led to slaughter.

"It's a whole new town, babe. Completely new set of young minds to mold. And besides Dad gave the kids who made it through the speech a damn good treat. King sized Reese's and Butterfingers and a pack of Oreos? Yum, I could go for some right now." Haley rubbed her stomach exaggeratedly and winked at him. For a second, Nathan considered making a run to the nearest supermarket and buying out their entire supply of chocolate for the pure sake of groveling. "I digress, how was practice?"

"Practice was…practice?" Nathan offered weakly. The look she gave him told him he'd been caught. "Fine," he sighed out, "After practice Tyler Hale said that the team was taking a bus to Franklin Street for Halloween. He asked me if I wanted to come and invited you too."

Haley gave him a small smile, "Three hours ago that would have sounded like fun but I can't, Nathan, I'm swamped with this damn class. I can try to churn out both first drafts this weekend and get in some early studying and maybe we could make it? When were you going to give him your answer?"

The sweet smile she was sending him nearly killed him. "I kind of," he cleared his throat slightly, "I kind of already told him we would be coming."

Her jaw dropped instantly, understanding, flexible girlfriend out the window. "Nathan! I can't believe you made those kind of plans without even asking me! Not even a month ago I asked you not to do that! You had no idea what my schedule was going to be like and you signed us up for something that is going to take up God knows how much of our time?"

"I'm sorry, I just…he kind of put me on the spot for answer," Nathan cringed as the words flew out of his mouth. He didn't want to falsely accuse the older player especially since it had been his idiocy that was causing this argument. "I didn't know what to say…'yes' just came out!"

"Well, you're just going to have to tell him I can't come," Haley decided, folding her arms over her chest.

Nathan gaped at her decision. "What happened to trying to make it?"

"Well that was when you were actually being a human being and _asking _me if I wanted to go rather than being a caveman practically demanding that I do," she explained, turning back to her work. "Tell Tyler thanks but no thanks. We can't make it."

"We?" Nathan repeated softly. Her attention was suddenly back on him, fury in her eyes.

"Yes, Nathan, we. _We _are a couple, aren't we? _We_ attend these types of things together, right?" Haley asked, adding extra emphasis to each word. "When _we_ came to this school, _we _decided not to break up therefore _we_ are still a we." His stare was wide-eyed and disbelieving. "Nathan, you are not going to Franklin Street with the guys on Halloween without me there. I'm sorry but that's just too much for me to take. I can't be worried about you an hour and a half away with unlimited access to alcohol and focus on my work."

"You don't trust me?" he pushed back, a little incredulous at the shift in conversation.

Haley raised her eyebrows at that one, imitating his earlier reaction to 'we.' "Of course I trust you, Nathan. I trust _and_ love you. That's why I'll be sitting here, attempting to write a paper on reconstruction after the Civil War and focusing on whether or not my lovable boyfriend has exceeded his alcohol limit and is passed out in some alley three towns over."

"Hales, I _never_ go out with the team. What's the big deal if I go out with them just this once?" he threw his hands up in exasperation, knowing that arguing about the love and trust in their relationship was pointless and unnecessary.

"Because I'm asking you not to, Nathan. I know we stay in a lot but I have never once begged you to stay here and keep me company. I even volunteer to go out to parties with you but somehow we never make it. If you wanted to go out without me, I wouldn't normally care because I _trust_ you. But you want to go to an unfamiliar place, which happens to be the watering hole of all the drunk college kids and generally weird people on the craziest night of the year, with guys still in the 'haze the freshmen' phase. I'm not being entirely unreasonable, am I?" she asked, removing her glasses to rub a hand over her eyes tiredly.

Nathan considered for a moment before shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah you are being unreasonable. If you're too busy that's fine. But I'm going to hang out with the guys." His decision made, he turned to leave the room.

"By the way, Jenna's going to be at her cousin's wedding this weekend and guess what? You're not getting any!"

The words echoed down the hall behind him and he winced as the door slammed shut by the force of her hand. One of the girls, Nancy or something, passed by him giggling quietly and shaking her head. Great, he had probably just turned every single female in the dormitory against him.

"What's up, man?" Nathan sighed out as he slammed the door behind him.

Jake looked up in surprise. He'd just gotten in from practice but that was because Nathan usually bolted out of there, immediately high-tailing it for Haley and Jenna's room. Not that he minded much since that meant the pretty blonde often found her way into theirs. "Not much," he returned slowly.

"Girls suck," Nathan bitched, tossing his backpack into a corner and throwing himself onto his bed. "Haley, especially," he mumbled, not really meaning it.

"Want to talk about it?" Jake offered, putting down his pencil and turning sideways in the chair. At Nathan's raised eyebrows, he sighed, "Fine, want to sit there silently and fume about it in your head and probably come up with the wrong decision? Or do you want to just tell me about it?"

"The team's going to Franklin Street for Halloween, right?" Nathan asked, making sure that Jake knew about it since he had to be the most reclusive player on the team. His roommate quickly nodded, raising a curious eyebrow. "Well, Tyler said there's room on the bus for Haley, too, so I told him that we'd go."

"And?" Jake wondered, having also been approached by his teammates for the night out.

"Haley's all pissed off at me because I didn't ask her about it first," Nathan practically yelled, still remarkably mad at his girlfriend's reaction. "She's got all these papers due and a test the day after so she can't go and she won't let me go either."

"She won't let you go because she can't?" Jake questioned, confused since he always got the feeling that Haley was a trusting girlfriend. "Or she won't let you go because she's worried something bad might happen?"

Nathan shot his roommate a death glare. "You're such a girl, Jake," he muttered disapprovingly. Jake managed a small smile at him and turned back to his work. Nathan just sighed at his new record, two people pissed off at him in under five minutes.

* * *

Nathan leaned against the charter bus someone's daddy had rented for the basketball team and scowled menacingly at any girl who dared approach him. Thankfully, Jake was right next to him, pissed off for the nearly the exact same reason. They had reconciled earlier in the week, Nathan mumbling a 'sorry' and then the two going back to living in relative silence.

Of course then they had bonded over their misfortune. Someone had come up with the lame and utterly stupid idea of the freshman players dressing up as superheroes. So that left them leaning against the bus, Nathan in his stifling Batman costume and Jake in his Superman one, and without the main girls in their lives. He knew Jake had asked Jenna if she wanted to ride with them to Franklin Street but didn't know how the girl had responded. If the deep frown on Jake's face was a sign, she wasn't coming.

Then again, Jake had seemed pretty depressed the entire week. Nathan knew it had something to do with him being a dick to be around and also the fact that he had actually been living in their room and Jenna didn't stop by nearly as often. But when she did, she made it perfectly clear that Haley was as miserable as he was and that the both of them were tired of living with such irritable people.

Nathan kicked at some pebbles on the ground, wondering when in the hell they could get on the bus and get going. Some of the other players were already well on their way to being plastered but the beer he had downed earlier tasted remarkably of guilt and he wasn't looking forward to another one.

The familiar name of his girlfriend was being called out by the noisy upperclassmen and his head immediately snapped up in attention. He was genuinely confused as he recognized her small figure doling out hugs to a few of the players drunk enough to be touchy-feely with her and his lips pressed together in irritation.

His eyes carefully tracked her movements through the crowd and he eagerly awaited the moment she broke free of the others. Upon seeing her costume, Nathan accidentally bit down on his tongue and muttered out a strangled "Fuck!"

* * *

Nathan knew that he was choking on his tongue and looking like a damned fool in front of his teammates but he could hardly care less. She must have had some kind of informant from the team because the Catwoman costume she was wearing to match his own was leather and skintight, hugging all of her curves. The costume was the farthest thing from revealing, skin-wise that is, but he felt like passing out with how hot his own costume had become. Briefly he wondered how long it'd taken her to shimmy her way into that thing before moving on to more important matters like how long it'd take to get her out of it.

Haley approached the bus, her eyes smoky and her smile mysterious, and his feet made some attempt at moving towards her. Remarkably, it was only when she fixed him with a cold glare did he remember that they were fighting and he had a one in a million chance of seeing what was beneath the tight leather.

Long after she'd climbed on the bus, Nathan returned to reality. He had vaguely been aware of Jenna trailing behind her, which might have been the reason for Jake's wide smile, but he could have easily been mistaken, his draw to Haley had been that strong. Jake thumped him lightly on the back of the head and gestured towards the bus and how everyone was slowly boarding. Nathan followed Jake up the steps, unaware that his roommate's light chuckles came from watching his bugged-out eyes and drooling mouth.

They approached the middle of the bus where Haley and Jenna were happily engaged in a conversation. Jake slowed as they got closer and Jenna immediately jumped up when she spotted them. "Oh, hey, I'm going to sit with Jake, okay, Hales?" Nathan heard Jenna's excuse as he neared and couldn't stop the small grin. The two retreated a few rows without waiting for her answer and Nathan plopped down in Jenna's vacated seat, not bothering to hide his excited smile. His girlfriend was hot as hell, no matter how pissed she was at him.

The bus started to move and the alcohol began to flow. Nathan constantly passed along cans of beers and handles of liquor, ignoring the looks of disapproval being sent his way. Getting wasted would definitely not be a shortcut to getting back on Haley's good side and he knew that he would still taste the guilt, even if said girlfriend was sitting right next to him.

As the conversation picked up around them, the silence became even more noticeable and they both began to fidget with the masks in their laps. Nathan knew he wouldn't be using his but he brought it along in case…of what he wasn't quite sure but it was becoming more interesting by the second.

Haley sighed out and he felt her shift away from him and turn towards the window. Slowly he turned his head to study the profile of her face. God she was pretty. So pretty and damn sexy his brain screamed at him as his eyes traveled the length of her body. As if she sensed his gaze on her, Haley turned her head and sent him a cold glare that he didn't bother flinching from.

He inched closer to her along the connected seats and she shrunk back but only slightly. "We're fighting," she reminded him, the soft nature of her voice being drowned out by the surrounding drunks. Nathan could barely decipher her words by the way her lips moved.

Haley sighed again when he didn't retreat and set a hand on his chest to push him away. Nathan smiled as her hand froze for a moment on top of the costume and she drew her bottom lip between her teeth before giving him a hard shove. On a shorter person or a less buff one, the costume would have been so much less effective. But. given his stature, Nathan knew she had felt the hard muscle beneath the rubbery surface just as he could feel the warmth of her hand through it.

He chuckled at the undeniable look of lust on her face as she blatantly eyed his chest. A moment later, she shook herself out of her reverie and sent him another dirty look that was the exact opposite of effective. Nathan began to move closer again since she was obviously flustered when a dead weight fell into his lap.

"Oh my god! Nathan Scott! Number 23!"

Nathan arched an eyebrow before letting out a loud groan as she wrapped her arms around his neck, turning his head away from the smell of liquor coming from the girl's mouth. Quickly, he reached for her waist to move her off his lap and was surprised to encounter bare skin. Glancing down, Nathan realized that the girl was less than decently dressed and stole a quick glance at his scandalized and otherwise pissed off girlfriend.

"You! Off, now!" Haley practically growled at the unsuspecting cowgirl. Taking both of her wrists, Haley stood, dragging the girl up with her despite her protests. Noticing another girl in the aisle wearing a matching outfit, she sent her stumbling in that direction before focusing her attention back on her cowering boyfriend. Nathan's jaw hung open in surprise and she almost laughed at his expression. "Sit over there," she commanded, gesturing to her window seat. When he reluctantly moved over, she collapsed into his before letting out an annoyed sigh.

Nathan was still in some form of shock as Haley fumed at imaginary people, her hands constantly twisting together. So caught up in her internal bitchfest, she didn't even notice when he leaned close to her ear. "Do you have any idea how sexy that was?" he whispered huskily, reveling in the way she froze up and lightly shivered as his breath hit her ear.

Without warning, Haley turned her head and grabbed his chin, crashing their lips together. His lips parted in surprise and she instantly thrust her tongue into his mouth. Nathan moaned quietly as his hands moved to run through her hair and he felt her shifting closer to him on the seat. Around them, the catcalls and whistles of his teammates echoed, causing Haley to jerk away harshly and turn her head away, staring down the aisle.

"You little…" he panted out, unable to stop the pout from forming on his lips. When she didn't respond, he sank back into his seat, petulantly crossing his arms over his chest. Staring out the window, he couldn't help but smirk because as frustrated as he was, that had been hotter than hell. Haley sure had come a long way from being embarrassed of making out in an empty classroom.

Turning to her, Nathan easily reached out and picked her clean up off the seat, dropping her in his lap despite her protests. "Sit still," Nathan demanded as she continued to struggle in his hold. "We both know you can't win this fight, so just hold still," he muttered lowly even as he buried his face in her hair, inhaling the clean scent.

"So what? You're just going to manhandle me every time we get into an argument?" Haley spat out at him. The expression on her face showed nothing but pure fury and rage.

Nathan sighed out, his hands coming up to run through her soft hair, and shot her a fake smile. "No, but I've missed your clingy, suffocating ass in bed with me this week so just stay still for two damn minutes," he bit off, wrapping his arms ever tighter around her. One hand remained in her hair, lightly brushing through it, while the other traveled to her lower back, massaging the skin beneath the leather. "Jesus, you're difficult," he murmured, letting out a relieved sigh when she practically melted into his embrace.

Haley clung tightly to Nathan's shoulders when the bus jolted, the wheels bouncing into a pothole, and let out a nervous laugh when he smirked at her gasp of surprise. "This isn't funny," she whispered fiercely at him, "so don't you dare smirk at me. And don't think this lets you off the hook because I'm still pissed as hell for what you said to me and for even being on this bus."

"Then why'd you come?" Nathan returned, his eyes darting around to see if anyone had caught onto their little argument. The last thing they needed was a public spat in front of his teammates and their groupies. He caught Jake staring at them interestedly out of the corner of his eye and sent his roommate a 'cut it out!' look. "No one asked you to be here."

"Uh, yeah, you did," Haley pointed out, harshly. "It may have been a week and a half ago but surely you remember storming out of my room after calling me unreasonable and distrustful. Besides where the hell else would I be? In the library working on my reports and studying for my tests? Who wants to do that when I can watch you get wasted along with the rest of the basketball team and then take care of you the entire night?"

Nathan glared, his jaw clenching tightly. "I didn't call you distrustful. And I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don't need my five feet three girlfriend watching over me. What are you going to do? Drag me away from a bar fight?" he spat out sarcastically, watching as her eyes widened in surprise.

"So help me God if you get into a fight…" she just trailed off, shaking her head in disbelief at him. "You've got be freaking kidding me," her laugh was entirely hollow, "Threatening to get into a bar fight? That just takes the cake on your immaturity quota this month, Nathan."

"What? I have a quota?" he questioned, part-curious and part-offended. "I can act up so many times a month before you dump me, is that it? Yeah, I bet that's it. Good thing it's the last day of the month then. I get to start all over tomorrow."

Practically gawking at him, Haley drew her arm back and socked him in the side of his stomach. "Yeah you bet that's it!" she spewed back sarcastically. "Now that's got to be the most immature thing you've ever said to me in a long ass time, Nathan! You can't honestly believe that about me! Or our relationship!"

Nathan had the good sense to look a little ashamed and made no protests when she scurried from his lap, moving so far from him she practically fell off the seat and into the aisle. He sighed and turned his stare to the window, wondering how much of his father's jackass gene he really did inherit.

Some time later the bus came to a rumbling stop and the people began drunkenly stumbling out into the parking lot they were stopped in. Nathan reluctantly followed the crowd off the bus and spotted Haley who had zipped ahead of him and linked her arms through Jake's and Jenna's, seemingly tagging along with them as they followed a few players into a nearby club. Thankfully, his long legs allowed him to catch up easily but he remained silent when he did, not trusting his mouth not to screw up anymore.

Once they were inside the club, due to some fast talking and large bills from one of his teammates he was sure, Nathan immediately went on edge. Large crowds weren't his thing and his mouth twisted into a frown when someone stepped into his path, separating him from the trio. Easily pushing the person away, Nathan caught up once again and placed his hand on the small of Haley's back. Her head snapped up in surprise, obviously in a snit and ready to bitch someone out, but she stopped seeing that it was him and not some drunkard. He could tell she was still mad but not nearly enough to deny his presence in a crowded and unfamiliar place where he knew she felt uncomfortable.

* * *

"Oh thank god!" Nathan exclaimed as he finally spotted her, pushing her way through the crowd to get to him. She scowled darkly at the girls surrounding him but he paid them no mind as he threw his arms around her shoulders and hugged her tightly to his chest. Haley stayed like that, awkwardly smashed up against the rubber of his costume, before he pulled away, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her lightly. "Where in hell have you been?"

"What?" Haley blew out, annoyed when he took her by the elbow and dragged her outside, pushing through the people waiting to get inside. "What are you talking about, Nathan? Have you completely lost it already?" she questioned, tiptoeing to look closely into his eyes.

Nathan pushed her back down, his own frustration growing. "Stop that!" he muttered crossly. "I haven't been drinking. Where have you been? You scared me shitless, Hales. Do you know how many psychos are out wandering around here right now? I turn away for two seconds because some ho bumps into me and you disappear! What the hell is with that?"

"I didn't disappear!" Haley yelled back, just as loud. "I told you I was going to the bathroom and when I looked back you were talking to someone! What? You didn't see me walk away?"

"No!" Nathan shouted, grabbing her arms. "You're wearing all black!" he gestured wildly down at her costume. "That stupid club is so damn dark I can barely see my own damn hand. And I know you lightened your hair but shit! You're in all fucking black! How the hell was I supposed to see you walk away? And then Jenna and Jake didn't know where you were! Damn it!" Nathan turned away from her then, breathing heavily and furiously running his hands through his hair.

"Sucks doesn't it?" Haley muttered and he felt her hand come to rest on his back before he processed her words.

He turned to face her again, shrugging off her hand, and was not amused by the small smile on her lips. "What? What sucks?"

"Worrying. Thinking something bad happened. I'm in the same damn club as you, Nathan, and you freaked out when I went to use the bathroom for all of fifteen minutes. Do you know how I would have felt, sitting back at school and wondering what the hell was happening to you over here?" Haley asked softly, watching as his face flushed a deep red.

Nathan refused to meet her eyes and cursed under his breath. "That's different," he managed to mumble and she sent him a placating smile. "No, it is!" Nathan blew out, bothered that she wasn't more bothered. "You're tiny! Anyone can just pick you up and go. At least I've got a chance of defending myself, okay? You're just…do you know how many people in that club you actually outweigh? Someone could hurt you!"

Haley was silent as he gathered her into his arms, burying his head into her shoulder. He'd sprouted a few more inches during senior year so the position had to be uncomfortable at best for him, but Nathan refused to let go and she reluctantly slid her arms around his waist to hold him. "God, I was so fucking scared," he murmured lowly into her ear, turning his head to press kisses on the side of her face. "You have no idea how scared I was. I can't lose you."

Staving off the urge to mutter 'the hell?', Haley moved her hands to caress the back of his neck and Nathan slowly shifted to rest his forehead against hers. "You're not going to lose me. Are you insane?" she chided gently, amazed at the tears in his eyes. "You're really scared of that?" she asked softly. "Nathan…" He cut her off as he pushed a tender kiss to her lips.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he mumbled out. "I should have believed you when you said you were just worried about me. I'm sorry I threw a stupid fit about it. I didn't really get what you were saying until I couldn't find you. Then all I could think about was the news stories about those psychos kidnapping pretty young college girls and rap…god, I could barely breathe. I felt like I was going to pass out and Jenna didn't know where you went and the guys kept telling me to chill out. I almost punched Casey for…I can't even remember right now."

"You hear about all the shit that happens at colleges. This is like six colleges all shoved onto one block and everyone's drunk and they don't give a shit about other people," Nathan could have hit himself at this point. He was practically hyperventilating just thinking about it and from the look on her face he was scaring the crap out of his girlfriend, too.

Haley pushed herself into his arms, resting her head against his chest. "Your heart's racing…and not in a good way. Stop it," she commanded. "I didn't mean to worry you, but nothing happened to me so please calm down. You're going to give yourself a heart attack at this rate."

"I don't care," Nathan muttered. "Maybe this is just payback for me being an ass about coming here tonight but I don't care if I put myself in the ground worrying over you. You're worth it."

"Well I care if you put yourself in the ground so stop it. I'm fine so there's no reason for you to stress out anymore," Haley smiled softly when his breathing began to even out and he dropped his forehead to hers. "And this isn't payback. I wouldn't make you worry about me on purpose. I'd never do that."

"I know you wouldn't," he spoke gently, allowing his hands to move up and caress her face. "I didn't mean it like that. I just…it's ironic, isn't it?" his eyes moving to hers, questioning.

She smiled a little; maybe it was a tad bit ironic. Haley pressed a sweet kiss to his lips. "Yeah, you got that one right. Come on, let's go back inside. You can hang out with the guys and I promise not to leave your side."

"Alright," Nathan agreed, a little reluctant to go back inside. He pulled her to his side, squashing her slightly against the bulky costume, and sighed in relief. "Hey, wait," he broke out suddenly, "what happened to girls always using the bathroom in groups? You didn't just go off by yourself, did you?"

Haley shook her head, leaning up to kiss the corner of his frowning mouth. "Of course not, I went with Tessa from my Psych class and one of her friends. I'm not stupid, Nathan," she chided lightly.

"I wasn't saying you are," he defended, "just making sure you're being safe."

"Uh huh," Haley scoffed knowingly.

They approached the front of the club again and Nathan hustled them to the front, ignoring the dirty looks and yells of the already drunk partiers. He glowered deeply at the large bouncer as he blatantly eyed Haley's costume-encased body before smiling at her and stepping back slightly. The bouncer nearly refused to let him in until Haley latched onto his arm and pulled him inside, smiling sweetly at the larger man the entire way.

Nathan didn't even have time to complain about it since the loud, pulsing music surrounded them almost immediately and he had to quicken his pace to keep up with Haley who used her small size to her advantage and shimmied through gaps in the crowd. Finally they neared the small table from earlier, and Nathan had never been happier to see his drunken teammates acting like…drunks.

Once Tyler was dragged away to dance by some girl, Nathan quickly took over the barstool he'd been sitting in, pulling Haley up onto his lap. He smiled and nodded at his teammates, who were completely oblivious to the fact that he couldn't hear them, and turned his head when Haley subtly nudged him with her elbow.

Haley leaned back to whisper something undecipherable in his ear and he simply shrugged, causing her to laugh slightly before pointing out into the crowd. Carefully, Nathan followed the direction of her finger and, using the next burst of light from the strobe light, spotted what she had been laughing at. In the time they had been gone, Jenna had somehow cajoled Jake into dancing, something he hated more than Nathan did. The brunette was holding a beer bottle in one hand, while Jenna had taken hold of both his wrists, attempting to move him in some way that looked rhythmic. Jake also sported a look of utter embarrassment despite the fact that not many people would remain sober enough to remember his humiliation.

Jenna apparently spotted them back at the table because she let go of one of Jake's wrists before using her hold on his other to lead him through the crowd towards them. "Hey!" Nathan read off her lips before shaking his head to indicate that they couldn't hear them. She gave them a sheepish smile before pointing back towards the front door, suggesting that they were going outside.

Before he knew it, Haley was sliding off his lap and tugging on his arm to follow them out the door. He turned his head back for a second to glance at his teammates dancing and drinking with the girls they had brought and some they hadn't before following Haley's lead and stumbling out the door once again.

"Sorry," she grinned up at him, "It's still early. Can you hang out with the guys a little later? It was getting way too loud in there." Her apology came with a sweet smile and an even sweeter kiss against his lips. Nathan nodded his head, gripping her hips and pulling her flush against his body. Over her shoulder he gestured at Jake and Jenna a ways off, still holding hands. Haley smirked triumphantly, moving her hands gently over the material of his costume. "So this is hot."

Nathan scoffed gently, "I don't know if you noticed, considering we were still fighting, but I nearly slipped in a puddle of my own drool when you first showed up. You're hot, Hales. I can't wait to get you out of this thing." His hands lightly trailed up and down her sides, matching her moves over his chest. Stealthily, his hands wandered to her back, fiddling with the zipper until she smacked him lightly on the chest in mock outrage.

"Oh I noticed," Haley returned, "It was actually really funny. Big bad Nathan Scott all tripped up over a girl."

"I'm always tripped up over you," he smiled charmingly, ignoring the eye roll she responded with.

"Are you having fun hanging with the boys?" she questioned, suddenly curious about his reasoning for dragging them to the biggest party in the state. "I mean, other than the time you spent being an overprotective worrywart."

Nathan shrugged lightly, "I don't know, I guess. I kind of forgot what guy bonding is. They're all drunk and all over girls. It's not like we're actually hanging out or anything. I'm pretty sure no one noticed both of the times that we were gone."

"Probably not," Haley agreed. "Doesn't matter, really. We're here and we're having…fun?"

He couldn't help the light chuckle as she confusedly recalled the night's activities. "Sure, if you consider giving me a heart attack and nearly going deaf fun. I think I'd rather be trick-or-treating with you and your crazy family. You've ruined other people for me, Haley James."

"You wouldn't have it any other way," Haley spoke knowingly. Nathan smirked and shook his head before she grabbed the back of his neck, bringing his mouth down to meet hers.


	11. Game

The five players jogged down the court easily, their point guard taking his time to cross the half-court line. The buzzer rang and the ball flew up into the air, destination unknown, as the team cheered along with the rest of the packed stadium. It was the first game of the season, non-conference and against North Carolina Central, a local school that wasn't exactly good, but the rush of the first collegiate victory was amazing.

Nathan bounced enthusiastically to the other side of the court where the school's avid basketball fans had their own section and waited at the bottom, his eyes scanning over the tie-dyed crowd. He had scored 8 points and made two steals and four assists. The statistics were nothing near his high school best but this was college, a whole new level, and he had made a solid contribution that helped his team win. Not to mention, he was one of the three freshmen to start.

"Baby!"

His head turned towards the unmistakable voice and he opened his arms to the little ball of energy that flew at him. "You were amazing!" Haley continued as she hopped into his waiting arms and peppered his face with short kisses. "That was so cool!" she gushed happily, her hands flying animatedly as he held onto her tiny waist. "Like that one part when the other guy looked away and *POOF* you had the ball and ran to the other end and DUNKED it! I didn't know you could dunk!"

"Well, that's cause it's illegal in high school games, Hales," Nathan chuckled good-naturedly. "You've seen me dunk before. I've done it plenty of times just to impress you. You've seen me play before, too. What's all the excitement about?" he questioned, laughing as her eyes lit up in recollection.

"Oh, yeah, I remember. It was still cool though," she promised, leaning in to place a smacking kiss against his lips. "This is so much more exciting. In high school, I sat next to Mouth who was always doing his announcing thing. But, here, everyone's so excited and they do all these chants together when…things happen. Don't look at me like that," she chastised him lowly, "I may not know what everything's called but I'm trying to be supportive here."

"You're being supportive," he agreed, smiling and setting her back on her feet. A few people clapped him on the back as they went on to rush the court and other players and he shouted a late "Thanks!" over his shoulder. "I think you should show me a little more of that support when we get back to the dorm," Nathan suggested smirking triumphantly when she slid her arms around his neck and pressed close.

Haley popped a kiss on his chin before chuckling, "Oh you're definitely getting some action, superstar. With a game like that how do you expect me to resist?" A shocked look appeared on Nathan's face as his girlfriend's words began to process. "Jenna's already promised to clear out of the room and I'm making good on that. Plus, it's been like a _whole_ _week_."

His eyebrows shot up and he let out a disbelieving chuckle. "You're oversexed, babe," Nathan remarked, bending his head to drop a short kiss on her lips. As if to prove his point, Haley pulled him closer and stealthily parted his lips with her tongue. "Not that I'm complaining," he murmured, diving back in for more action.

Nathan groaned softly when he heard the familiar voice of his coach calling the team back into the locker rooms. Celebration time was over. "I'll see you in your room?" he questioned eagerly when one of his teammates grabbed his elbow and started dragging him backwards. Her enthusiastic nod completed his bright smile as he turned and began jogging to the locker room, anxious for the team meeting to be over.

***

Nathan crossed his arms over his chest angrily, watching as two petite females scurried all over his room. He felt equally bad for Jake who was putting up with Jenna's doting behavior despite the fact that they weren't dating. At the very least, he was being thoroughly compensated for dealing with all of Haley's craziness.

Over the weekend, they had won their second game against James Madison University, a fairly decent school. Haley had been all smiles then, too, equally impressed with his style of play. Tomorrow, he and Jake would be leaving to play Bucknell, in Pennsylvania, a much better team than the ones they'd competed against so far. His frantic girlfriend with her pacing and the shoving of things into his overnight bag was not doing a damn thing to help his nerves. Did he mention that it would also be their first nationally televised game?

He wanted so badly to jam his headphones into his ears and close his eyes, drowning out the vision of the two blonde furies, but knew better. Jake was sitting, shoved into a corner, moodily strumming his acoustic guitar. He could hear the exasperated sigh the brunette would blow out every time Jenna held up something of his, wondering if he needed it for the game. He figured the idea of playing so close to home was freaking out the other player, much like the idea of Dan watching him play on the big screen in the study was freaking him out.

Haley must have noticed his exhaustion since she was by his bed in an instant, soft hands smoothing over the lines of his forehead. "Nathan?" He blew out an unsteady breath, trying to give her a reassuring smile and failing horribly. She leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek before sending Jenna a beseeching look that the blonde responded to almost immediately.

"Come on, Jacob," Jenna threw out to Jake, her frustration with his refusal to answer her questions evident. "Let's go get some dinner and leave these lovebirds alone," she muttered, gesturing for him to follow her out the door. Jake seemed to perk up at the mention of food and carefully set his guitar on his bed, following the blonde out with a smile and a wave.

"What's wrong?" Haley murmured softly, crawling into his bed with him. She placed her head on his chest and curled into his side, their legs tangling. "Tell me what's wrong," she commanded, taking his hand and interlacing their fingers.

"The game's going to be on TV. Dad's going to see it," Nathan returned, lifting their locked hands to kiss the back of hers. "He's going to go ballistic. I can just imagine it now. He's going to call and talk all this shit about how I shouldn't have made a pass or I should have taken more shots or got that rebound…anything really. And then I'm going to get pissed off and we're going to fight. I don't want to play this game, Hales."

The confession was soft and quiet and he heard her gasp in response. "Here," Nathan continued, a small, deprecating smile playing on his lips. "I'll hold my arm out like this," he stretched his right arm out into the air in front of him, "and you just…you take Jake's guitar and smash it right over my elbow. Then Jake'll get into a fight with me and we'll both get suspended from playing and he can stop brooding about having to go back to Pennsylvania. Problem solved."

"Problem not solved," she said harshly at the same time taking his elbow and kissing it gently. "That's like a giant can of worms. For starters, Jake's teaching me how to play the guitar so we can't very well break his," Haley breathed out against his chest.

Nathan chuckled lightly then, "Yeah, because your guitar playing skills, or should I say your lack of them, are so top priority right now."

"Well, if we break your arm, what use are you to me then, hot shot?" Haley quipped haughtily, pulling away from him and trying to climb off the bed.

Obviously quicker, Nathan grabbed her waist and threw her back against the mattress, lightly resting over her body. "I can think of plenty things I can do with one hand. Don't you underestimate my sexual abilities," he growled into the side of her neck, playfully biting her there. Haley threw both of her arms around his neck, pulling him tightly to her, and buried her head in his chest. "Hales?" Nathan questioned confused when he felt small wet spots soaking through his shirt.

"Don't talk like that," she mumbled against the cotton fabric of his t-shirt. "I know you love this game, Nathan, and hearing you talk like that scares me. Your father loves you, okay? I know it hasn't always seemed like it but he does and he's trying. I promise you that he will not call after the game and if he does he'll say nothing but good things to you. If I can promise you that, will you stop talking about hurting yourself? Even joking about it? It scares me so much."

"Hales, wha…what's going on?" Nathan asked helplessly. He rolled them over so that she was sprawled over his chest but she kept her face hidden from his and he could still hear loud sniffles coming from his shirt. "What are you so scared of? I was just joking, I swear. I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm not going to hurt myself and I'll play tomorrow, no matter what my Dad has to say about it after. I was just being dumb, please stop crying."

"Please don't be mad at me," she mumbled dejectedly, her fingers tightly clutching the loose material of his shirt. "I…your Dad called the night of your first game," she admitted, wincing when she heard his sharp intake of breath. The hand that had been lightly resting on her lower back clenched into a tight fist and she could feel his entire body tense against hers. "Don't be mad," she pleaded again and raised her head to meet his eyes. "You guys have been getting along so great—well, that's a relative term—but I didn't think you would care."

Nathan forced himself to breathe. To be honest, he had no idea why he was reacting so badly. She was right, to an extent, and he had been 'getting along' with his Dad much better than he could ever remember. "Then why didn't you say something sooner?" he managed to ask, trying not to sound so upset.

"Well, Dan asked me not to," she confessed. "I kind of understood why so I went along with it, I'm sorry I did. Your first two games weren't on TV or anything, so he just asked me to call after and tell him how you did. He didn't want you to know because he didn't want you to think that he only cared about basketball, like it was before," Haley murmured quietly, knowing how strained the father-son relationship had been early junior year.

"It is just like before!" Nathan burst out. He moved her off his body and quickly climbed out of bed, pacing the short length of his room. Haley shrunk back against the pillows, watching as his anger seemingly took over the small room. "It is! He's just interested in my basketball. He doesn't give a shit about my life! And the bastard's using you to get to me! And you let him. How could you just let him use you like that?" He was standing at the end of the bed now, angrily glaring at her down the length of it.

Haley moved forward to kneel on her knees, her hands coming to rest on his which were fiercely gripping the wood of the bed frame. "I'm not letting him use me and, more importantly, he's not using me," she spoke calmly, trying to transfer some of that to her raging boyfriend. There was no doubt that half the hall had heard his outburst but they certainly didn't need to hear more. "Dan cares about your life, basketball or no basketball, okay? The thing is that basketball _is_ a huge part of your life, Nathan, and it can't be ignored."

"It's the same way with me, Nathan. I love every single part of you, not just number 23. Although I can't say I don't love that cocky SOB, too," Haley sighed in relief, seeing the corners of his mouth twitch up just a bit. "Dan wants to get to know you and you mean basketball. He doesn't want to go back to where you guys were before, like in high school, so he's trying to take a more hands-off approach, I think. Does that make sense? That he doesn't want to scare you away or give you the wrong impression?"

Nathan nodded imperceptibly, just a small downward tilt of his chin. He caught her eyes and sighed wearily. "Is that what he told you? Did he tell you all of that?"

Smoothing out the lines of his forehead, Haley gave him a small smile. "Yeah, he did, and then some. It was a lot about how he knows he pushed you too hard and how defensive you are with him now. He said he knew that talking to you about basketball would give you the wrong idea but he can't help his curiosity. He wants to know how you're doing, Nathan. Bad or good, he's just interested. Plus, I'm pretty sure he just likes watching basketball games. I mean you do get it from somewhere."

"I do," he agreed solemnly, sighing heavily again. "I don't know. Before, when we weren't in season, it was easier to believe that he wasn't going to grill me about my playing time or my stats. Now that we're starting, I can't get it out of my head that he's going to yell at me or tell me I suck or whatever."

"You don't suck," Haley reprimanded him, pinching his arm lightly. "You've got, like, the best stats out of all the freshmen on your team. And no offense to Jake, but you play a lot more than him. You've been doing damn good so far so why don't you tell me what's really bothering you about Dan?"

"Lie down," Nathan ordered gruffly and she raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. "Not like that. Lie down, okay? I'm not going to start throwing things so stop looking like you're going to have to tie me down." Haley reluctantly eased herself back onto the bed, giving him a reassuring smile as he sat beside her.

"The first two games we played I was okay, you know? They weren't really good teams and I'm just a freshman so it didn't really matter," Nathan spoke slowly. "But Coach told me yesterday that he wants to play me more," he revealed, unable to do anything but feel better when she beamed proudly. "The first games…Dad…he couldn't say anything. I mean, sure, he could read about it later on the Internet or whatever but he couldn't say anything right away. Even if I had played badly…poorly," he corrected at her look, "he wouldn't know till morning. So I kept waiting, I've been waiting, for him to call and just say something like 'why didn't you get more rebounds against NC Central?' or 'don't let a guy like Andrews keep you out of the paint.'"

"I keep waiting for him to call, Hales," he swore softly under his breath. "I said I wouldn't go back there and that I'd stop caring about what he thinks but I can't. I just keep waiting and it sucks because I don't need him to tell me that I had a good game to know I had a good game. But…"

"But you still want it," Haley finished for him quietly when he dropped his head. "I get that, Nathan. I may not know what it's like but I understand. It's okay to want it. It's okay to want Dan to be proud of you. There's no shame in that."

"Maybe not," he allowed slowly. "But I'm too proud for that. You know me, Hales." He took a quick cleansing breath. "This game's going to be on national television. He's going to see it live, every damn move I make on that court. If he calls me right after and even if he doesn't say anything, it's just going to piss me off, no matter what. I'm going to be in a shit mood the rest of the time and the team's going to hate me and so will you when I get back here and act like an ass."

Haley grabbed onto his shoulders and pulled him down to lie next to her. "You can't think like that, okay? You're going to play great, Nathan. And your Dad, if he does in fact call because he's trying to respect you and give you space, will have nothing but great things to say to you. Stop your scowling," she chided lightly. "I love you. There, now you have something to be happy about. Smile a little."

"What? I'm supposed to be happy with life just because you love me?" Nathan questioned teasingly. He turned over to face her, his expression still serious and contemplative. "Yeah, I think I could do that," he mumbled, returning the bright smile she sent even as she leaned forward to take over his lips.

"You're going to do great, okay," Haley reassured, pulling back to stroke his cheek softly. "Trust me. Trust that I love you. Trust that our love can help you do amazing things." Nathan nodded slowly, allowing her words to sink in, before gathering her in his arms and hugging her tightly. "Well, I never knew you were one for the cheese, Scott," Haley laughed quietly as she cradled him to her, her fingers running through his hair.

***

"God!" Haley blew out frustrated at the big screen TV in the main lounge. At least half of their small dorm was piled into the room, stretched out along the couches and floor, and staring at the television with barely concealed frustration. The guys let out quiet chuckles at her nervousness, having never before seen a girl so wound up about a basketball game.

Haley resisted the urge to pace the floor, knowing that someone would immediately take up her primo seat right in front of the big screen. "This is ridiculous," she muttered lowly, ignoring Jenna's light laughter next to her. They had both been camped out in front of the TV since they got out of classes and Jenna appeared almost as nervous for Jake as Haley was for Nathan.

A small smile came to her face as she thought about the way her boyfriend had played during the game. They were about to go into overtime and, while Nathan hadn't played the last few minutes of the game, he had contributed 15 points and five assists, his best so far. And from the way he was standing by the free…throw line next to another teammate, she could only guess that Coach Prosser had decided to put him back in. The referees were doing…something while all the players and fans stood around, annoyed as hell over the delay. Finally, one of the refs moved toward center court, where the two players were eagerly waiting for the jump ball.

"Oh!" Haley jumped straight out of her seat and everyone's eyes moved over to her for a split second before returning to the screen. Scrambling, she found her cell phone in the pocket of her discarded sweatshirt that had been thrown in the direction of the TV late in the second half. In her haste, she climbed over the back of the couch and waved off Jenna's cry of outrage when two of the guys quickly ran to take her spot, the loser ending up sprawled out on the floor.

Making sure she had an ID card to get back inside, Haley went outside to the porch where she wouldn't be interrupted. As the phone rang, she peered eagerly into the lounge, frowning when, by the groans of her dormmates, Wake lost the jump. She nearly jumped when a deep, growling voice answered the call. Sighing heavily, Haley rolled her eyes, "Yes I know the game's back on. I need you to do something. No, not for me, for Nathan."

***

Nathan couldn't wipe the smile from his face if he tried. He had made the assist to their power forward, who sidestepped a Bucknell player to make an easy lay up. The shot sealed their victory, 86-83. The rest of the team was practically bouncing off the walls of the locker room as they filled it with exuberant shouts and whoops. Even Jake was sporting a small smile when he dropped down onto the metal bench across from him.

Immediately, Nathan reached for his cell phone on the top shelf of the locker. He flipped it open and his smile grew larger when he saw the missed call and voicemail from his girlfriend. Almost as if it burned, Nathan nearly dropped the phone when he saw the second name on his missed calls list.

Nathan watched as his fellow teammates headed for the showers and figured that Coach was saving the talk for the bus ride home. Of course he had no problem with that, the Bucknell fans had been less than enthused when the final buzzer rang, and he didn't want to stick around any longer than they had to.

Still, he lifted the phone to his ear after holding down '1' and slowly pressed in his password. He didn't know how he had missed the '2 Voicemails' message but somehow he had in his excitement of winning the game and hearing from Haley.

"_Nathan! I just saw the win. You played great…just like I said you would."_ Nathan grinned widely when her laughter rang clearly through the receiver as she conversed with someone next to her. _"Everyone here says congrats, too. Anyway, if you're too busy to call back, have a safe drive back to Wake and I'll see you in the morning. Love you."_

His expression soured as the automated message announced the next voicemail and he steeled himself for his father's voice. _"Nathan, it's Dad. I just wanted to say…I'm proud of you. I'll see you at Thanksgiving."_ The phone beeped in his hand and Nathan jumped slightly, the automaton continuing with the date and time of the message. Glancing at the clock hanging on the wall, he noted that the message had been left a half hour earlier, well before they had won the game. The smile started slowly as he replaced the phone on the shelf and slowly shook his head in disbelief before letting out a loud chuckle, ignoring the odd looks his teammates sent his way.


	12. Round 1 and 2

"Help me! Help me!"

Haley looked up suspiciously from her book when she heard the voice of a small child. It was common practice for people to bring their kids to campus on weekends so that they could run around or bike on the open lawns and extensive sidewalks but not on a Wednesday afternoon.

A little boy of maybe seven or eight years wearing a slightly too baggy basketball jersey and shorts was running towards her at top speed. Okay, so it wasn't her fault she was the only one taking advantage of the nice afternoon and lush lawns, and avoiding her own dormitory at all costs.

Hi," she smiled sweetly at the little boy who dropped to the ground next to her, clearly out of breath. "What are you doing here?"

"I was playing basketball," came the proud answer as the young child smiled back widely. "But I got lost," he admitted with a small shrug of his shoulders. "My big brother said that when I get lost I'm supposed to look for a pretty girl so she can help me and he can get a date. I didn't tell him that girls have cooties," the boy snickered as if he had pulled one over on his mentor.

"Girls do have cooties," Haley agreed, smiling easily. "What's your name?" she questioned.

"Matthew," the boy smiled widely back at her. "Are you going to help me find my big brother?" he asked, a twinkle in his eye.

"Yeah I am. Does he go to school here?" Haley asked, laughing at Matthew's eager nod. "Okay then, does he play on the basketball team here?" That would definitely narrow things down especially since she'd gotten to know practically all of the team. He nodded again, giving her a smile. "Alright," Haley murmured while glancing down at her watch. "They're supposed to be practicing right now. Want to go find them?"

Grabbing her book, Haley stood and allowed the boy to run ahead. Surprisingly enough he was going in the right direction and she briefly wondered who on the team had such a young brother. The boy was waiting for her impatiently at the curb, obviously not allowed to cross the street by himself yet.

He clung tightly to her hand and when they were half way across the street, she noticed a certain someone lounging by the front steps of the gym wearing a sheepish smile. Once they were safely on the other side, Matthew ran ahead, straight to Nathan. Haley watched from a distance as her boyfriend knelt to speak to the little boy then sent him inside the gym with a wide smile.

She approached slowly, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "I'm not going to apologize," she stated stubbornly, aware of the gleam in his eyes. "You can't make me," she pouted again when he merely smirked at her.

"You're aware this is your own fault," Nathan commented casually. "If you hadn't been so psychotic about things, we never would have had this misunderstanding," he reasoned, drawing her reluctant figure to his body. "But I forgive you."

"Forgive me?" Haley questioned incredulously, taking a step back and causing him to groan. "You're the one who just had to be so secretive about…Matthew. You knew I was stressed out and you insisted on playing with my head. I'm not the one who should be asking for forgiveness," she scoffed at him, stepping back even further.

Failing miserably, he tried not to roll his eyes at his girlfriend's ridiculousness. She had been getting steadily more irritable as the year wore on and she wasn't even the one on a NCAA Division I athletics team. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to be angry with her, especially since he may have had a little something to do with it. "Okay, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taunted you like that. I'm an ass."

"You're not an ass," Haley mumbled, much to Nathan's satisfaction. "I overreacted. I'm becoming a crazy person, I know. I've come to terms with it so you better too. It's just…the groupies freak me out, even more so than in high school. And it doesn't help that you egg them on just to watch me freak out. And then you disappear for hours during the day and refuse to tell me where you're going or what you're doing. "

Nathan just smirked, maybe it was his fault. "Sorry, Hales. I'm sorry. If it helps, watching you freak out and bite my head off turns me on more than those crazy groupies ever could." As expected Haley turned a bright red and quickly glanced around to see if anyone else was near. "And that," he continued softly, drawing his thumb across her cheek, "is exactly why I fell in love with you in the first place."

Haley smiled wonderfully before pushing onto her tiptoes, her hands moving to cradle his face and pull him down to her. Nathan returned the smile and drew her into a deep kiss, pleased with the way she responded. Ever since the first month of the school year, Haley had been adamantly against public affection. It seemed the honeymoon phase of not seeing each other for close to three months had worn off.

"We're in public," she whispered, pulling away slightly. Nathan pouted and bent his mouth to hers once more before backing away just a bit. "So, um," Haley struggled to form a coherent sentence, her mind still gloriously caught in a haze. "When's practice over?" she blurted out as his lips neared hers once more.

Instead, he gripped her hand and brought her bruised wrist to his lips, brushing against the purplish spot tenderly. "Early," Nathan replied, grinning widely. "Since we're basically just spending time with the kids and they're only here for another hour, we can just leave after." His response came with a quick waggle of his eyebrows as he quickly dived in for another short kiss. "I got to go. Coach will have my ass if I don't get back."

"I like your ass," Haley teased, "So hurry back there." He sent her a wink and a smirk before disappearing back inside the building with a few quick steps. Relieved, Haley let out a long sigh, grateful that he was quick to brush off her mini-tantrum Saturday night. Though he was drunk enough and she was being ridiculous enough that he was more than likely amused by her antics.

_Haley walked into the party a step behind Nathan since he had moved in front to slightly part the crowd. She had reluctantly agreed to go out with him the night before, something he wasn't so keen on either due to the Halloween debacle. Her brow furrowed when Nathan suddenly jerked forward, moving quickly through the crowd._

_When she managed to catch up to him, Haley glared hard at the scantily dressed cheerleader that was holding onto his wrist. She quelled the urge to claw the girl's eyes out just like she should have done Thursday. Nathan jerked his arm away hard, retrieving his hand, and turned to look over his shoulder, his furious expression softening a bit when he spotted her. "No way, man," Nathan spoke quickly, backing away and grabbing Haley's hand. "You're not handcuffing me to…that," he settled on saying, gesturing angrily at the girl who had surprised him and dragged him over to the frat brother._

_The frat brother just shrugged, "Well, who are you getting handcuffed to?" His gaze briefly flit down to Haley before he obligingly slipped the silver handcuffs around each of their wrists, taking care not to hurt Nathan's arm. The girl stomped away, obviously put off, and Haley childishly stuck her tongue out at her back, ignoring Nathan's deep chuckles. Nathan grabbed the rather sizeable bottle of liquor that they would need to finish before being uncuffed and pulled her away from the brother._

_Haley sighed, observing her boyfriend's obviously angry gait. DrunkNathan usually came in three varieties, depending on his mood before he got plastered: pissy, asshole Nathan, touch-feely, horny Nathan, which she could deal with the easiest, and talkative, almost-giggly Nathan, who almost never showed up. Judging by the way he was practically dragging her along, she would say that Asshole Nathan would definitely be out to play tonight. Already, she could feel the bruise forming low on her wrist. She watched warily as Nathan took a long drink straight from the bottle before handing it to her with an encouraging smile. Haley took it, a little pleased that it was raspberry vodka, her favorite. It was such a girly flavor that he would undoubtedly take shit for having and she couldn't help but smile at his thoughtfulness._

"_Don't worry," Nathan murmured down quietly to her as they approached a few of his teammates that were out for the night, "I'll take care of you." The promise brought a small smile to her lips and he intertwined their fingers, the best contact he could manage with them walking beside each other and being attached at the wrists._

_Surprisingly, Asshole Nathan didn't make his predicted appearance but Haley's frustration still grew as Nathan managed to consume the majority of the bottle. He had somehow slipped into his more playful mood, which she didn't mind entirely, but he kept dragging her to talk to this person and the next and always about basketball which barely let her get a word in edgewise. Not that anyone was acknowledging her as anything other than Nathan Scott's girlfriend._

_By the time she got Nathan to follow her lead, rather than pull her in some random direction, and found a frat brother to unlock the handcuffs, she more than felt like the literal ball-and-chain to the basketball superstar. Soon she regretted her decision to remove herself from Nathan as his flirtatious manner invited more and more female attention, which he didn't have the common sense to walk away from._

_He was leaning against a wall, talking to a gaggle of female admirers, including a particular cheerleader she had come to abhor in the past 36 hours. Suddenly, he glanced up and made eye contact, smirking knowingly. Completely frustrated, she stormed over, pushing her way through the drunk and the desperate, and grabbed his arm. When he refused to move with her, still smiling 'charmingly,' Haley reached up and took a hold of his ear, pulling him forward and out the door._

"_Ow, Hales!" Nathan whined loudly when they were finally outside and she had let go. "You're my girlfriend, not my mom. What are you pulling on my ear for?"_

"_I'm not going to be your girlfriend in ten damn seconds, 23," Haley snapped angrily. Her words seemed to sober him up immediately as he stopped rubbing his ear and regarded her carefully. "You heard me," she continued, hands on hips and fury in her eyes, "If you don't want to be together anymore, that's fine, Nathan, but don't be a jackass about it. Say something. Don't just sit there and flaunt other girls in front of me, hoping I'll break up with you. Because I will. I am."_

_The second the words flew out, Haley quickly slipped her fingers over her very stupid mouth and her eyes widened in surprise. "I…"_

"_Didn't mean that?" Nathan interjected harshly. "You better not have, Haley, because I'm not sure what I'm going to do if you did."_

"_What you're going to do?" Haley blurted out just as angrily. "Let's focus on what you've already done! First, for the past two weeks, you disappear for hours every day, come back exhausted, and won't tell me what you've been doing. Second, you insist on coming to this party where you spend the entire night ignoring me and dragging me along behind you like some kind of lost puppy. Not to mention the identity crisis I'm about to have being introduced as "Scott's girlfriend" the entire time. And, third, you blow me off for a bunch of groupies and have the fucking nerve to SMIRK at me while you're flirting with them."_

"_Haley," his voice sounded utterly helpless and she turned away, not wanting to acknowledge the regret. "I'm sorry," Nathan offered to her tense back. He heard her disbelieving scoff and sighed heavily. "I was just talking to those girls because I didn't want to be rude. But I didn't want you to get mad so I was trying to smile at you. I'm sorry."_

_A sigh of relief passed his lips when her shoulders slumped heavily. "It looked like a smirk," she defended._

"_Maybe it was," Nathan allowed, moving closer and letting his hands rest on her nearly bare shoulders. "I was thinking about what we were going to do once we got back to the room…so maybe it was a smirk. I wasn't really paying attention to them, you know."_

_He felt her take a deep breath and slowly began to massage her shoulders. "Is that all you're going to apologize for?" Haley questioned and he chuckled softly, more than willing to let her have the last word._

"_Nope," Nathan announced, popping the 'p.' "I'm sorry everyone was calling you my girlfriend. Well, I'm not sorry because those assholes need to know to keep their hands off but I am sorry it made you feel…less. You're not, okay? Most of the time I feel like it should be "This is Haley James, genius, and oh yeah, this is her dumb ass boyfriend.""_

_She spun in his embrace, a truly apologetic smile stretched wide across her face. "I'm not a genius and you're not a dumb ass. I'm a girl and you're a boy and we just happen to love each other."_

"_That we do," Nathan sighed gratefully, dropping a short kiss on her lips. "You didn't really mean it when you said it'd be fine if we broke up?" his voice was questioning and unsure and she again regretted the words._

"_Of course not," Haley swore. "I was just mad. You know I'd be wrecked. I just…I don't want us to stay together just because we're high school sweethearts and all that jazz. I don't want you to feel trapped, not when you have all these…options."_

"_None of those 'options' come close to being you, Hales. We're going to stay together because we love each other and because I look forward to every single one of these temper tantrums you lay on me. You frustrate me like hell when you do but you look damn hot doing it," he smirked as she blushed furiously._

"_You're drunk," Haley accused, "You're not supposed to be this smooth. Is that what you were saying to all those girls? No wonder I couldn't get the damn leeches off you."_

"_Nah," Nathan brushed off quickly. "I don't even know what they were asking about. I was just doing it to piss you off."_

_Haley's jaw dropped immediately. "You did all of that to piss me off? As in we could have avoided this entire spectacle we just made of ourselves."_

_Automatically Nathan smirked, "You just made out of yourself. I wasn't the one dragging my boyfriend out of a party by his ear."_

"_You may not be dumb but you're an ass," she glared, "tell me what you've been doing for the past two weeks before I get even more pissed off."_

_Nathan raised an eyebrow at her sudden shift in mood and lack of humor. When he shook his head in refusal, Haley immediately turned on her heel and stomped away in the general direction of their dorm. "Hey, wait!" Nathan protested, feeling the effects of the alcohol as he struggled to keep up with his short and high-heeled girlfriend. "You're mad at me, whatever," he brushed off, "but don't think I'm about to let you wander back alone."_

_Instead of answering, Haley kept up her steady pace and reached their dorm in record time, slamming her room door shut in his face. "Haley!" Nathan whined loudly through the thin walls, trying the unyielding door handle a few times. Hopefully Jenna had a key for when she came back. "Fine, be a bi—."_

_Haley reached for the door handle again, ready to rip her boyfriend a new one for even thinking that word about her. He seemed to stop himself just in time and dropped three heavy knocks on her locked door. "Damn it," she could hear him cursing in the hallway. "Fine, be like that. I'm going to bed. When you're done being… grumpy, come find me in the morning."_

She had avoided him all Sunday and had planned on continuing with that when Matthew had unexpectedly run up to her. Haley didn't entirely understand what the little boy had to do with her boyfriend's constant disappearances but hopefully he'd offer up some more answers after practice was over.

"Hey," Nathan greeted, poking his head in the door and finding her studiously attached to her desk and laptop. The note on the board said "Lab 6-9" in Jenna's writing and he was grateful they would have time to talk. When she sent a small smile over her shoulder, he let out a silent 'thank you' that her good mood appeared to last and stepped further inside the room. "So…" he tried when she didn't acknowledge him further, her eyes still glued to the computer screen. "Have you gone mute?"

Haley shrugged, "Sorry, babe. I just need to read this last article. Why are you still standing up?"

Barely holding back a disbelieving chuckle, Nathan just complied and hopped onto her bed, willing to ignore their fight if she was. "Okay," she turned in the chair to face him and smiled brightly. "How was your day?" Haley asked curiously, never before seen her boyfriend so not pooped after practice.

"Good," Nathan drew out the word, studying her suspiciously. "Are you trying to ignore the fact that your insecurities led us to a fight?" he questioned suddenly and watched as she nearly physically recoiled from him, her eyes wide in shock and embarrassment. Instinctively his mind flashed back to the last time she'd looked like that, right at the beginning of their weekend and just before the disaster of a party.

"_Hales!" Nathan whined in a low voice as he leaned heavily on her door. He'd just returned from the basketball game and the team meeting afterwards. Of course, he had seen her there front row, just left of the hoop along with the rest of the basketball crazy school fanatics. She'd been wearing his away jersey, which wasn't supposed to leave his closet, but all he could do was pray Coach hadn't seen._

_So of course Haley had seen how that one cheerleader practically jumped on him after the buzzer rang. It wasn't a particularly big or important game so the students hadn't flooded the court as they would have if it was a win against Duke or some other big power school. But the cheerleaders, they were already on the court, they could run around as much as they wanted after the game._

_On the other hand, cheerleaders jumping on players, especially freshmen, wasn't exactly standard fare. But they were a young team and many of the freshmen saw playing time, including him. He just happened to be the standout of the game, again. To his own credit though, he had practically thrown her off him the second she barreled into his unsuspecting arms. But that wasn't enough for Haley James who had somehow schemed to lock him out of her room…shirtless._

_When he'd returned to the dorm, she'd been pissy about the event but still really happy they'd won. Nathan wasn't exactly sure how he'd ended up in the girls' hallway without a shirt, pleading with his girlfriend to unlock the door. Oh that's right. She had 'accidentally' spilled a soda on his chest and after he'd removed the stained item she'd enlisted his help to throw out the paper towels. When he'd turned back two seconds later the door was slammed shut in his face and defiantly locked._

"_Hey Nathan," grinned one of Haley's neighbors with a very assessing gaze. The Boy Toy Auction felt like nothing compared to the way this girl was staring him down. "Good game," she practically purred, "great in fact."_

_Smiling tightly, Nathan rolled his eyes. "Hey, Kelly," he mumbled, "thanks." She was starting to advance on him, he'd know that move anywhere, and Nathan quickly backed off, laying out three short, loud raps on Haley's door. "Uh, yeah, I'm already in trouble for that dumbass cheerleader…if you could really just leave me alone now, that'd be great."_

_Kelly smiled knowingly. Had he mentioned that the hugging had been accidentally broadcasted nationally? "Hales, your boyfriend's a prince," Kelly yelled at the shut door, her voice easily carrying through the thin walls._

_Nathan breathed a quick sigh of relief as she finally walked past. He thought he was beyond girls testing his fidelity by trying to trick him into cheating on Haley. Apparently his girlfriend was just as lovable and protect-able as ever. "Hales, please!" Nathan continued to plead, leaving more loud knocks on the door._

_Sighing he glanced over his shoulder to stare forlornly at the door leading to the lobby. The worst thing about having an early game on a Thursday afternoon? When your girlfriend locks you out of her room without your shirt, there are thirty girls packed into the lobby watching the newest episode of Grey's Anatomy on the big screen and fantasizing about McDreamy and McSteamy. Not the best case scenario for him to be wandering the halls shirtless and fresh from a victory._

"_Haley! I cannot walk through that lobby right now! Haley, open the damn door! I practically gave that girl whiplash I threw her off me so fast!" He was outrightly pounding at this point and knew that if the girls were actually in their rooms there'd be a crowd watching and most likely laughing at him._

_The door practically flew open and he took a step forward, ready to stand in its way if she tried to shut it again. "Is there a problem with you going back to your own room?" Haley questioned, her foot tapping. "You do have your own room, don't you?"_

_Nathan just glared and pushed his way into the room, ignoring her feeble attempts to stop him. "Yes, and going there means walking through that lobby!" he glowered at the way she left the door open and stood on the opposite side of the room by Jenna's bed. Her eyebrows raised nonchalantly and he knew she didn't know what was happening out there. "They're watching Grey's Anatomy and drooling over McDreamy or whatever the hell they call him. I walk out there without a shirt and I might get jumped! Again! Against my will!"_

_Haley wanted to smile at the way he was freaking out about walking into a room full of girls, and some very pretty ones she could admit, but she was mad. That dumb blonde cheerleader, no offense Peyton, had been wrapped around her boyfriend's body for a second and even that was five seconds too long._

_When she'd first gotten back to the room, she hadn't even been angry about it, in fact she was quite proud of the way Nathan had whipped her off him so quickly. That was until Taylor called, demanding that she turn on ESPN and wanting to know if she'd kicked Nathan in the balls and dumped him yet. There, in all its slow motioned glory, was that girl ambushing her boyfriend. The footage cut out milliseconds before his reaction but just that replayed scene built up a rage in her she didn't know she was capable of._

_Somehow twenty minutes later, Haley was still feeling that rage and locked him out partially clothed, something she and Jenna had jokingly threatened to do if one should ever become that pissed off at the other. She did for a second forget that she lived in a communal dorm and that locking out her ripped and toned boyfriend meant a free show for all the other girls._

"_I know," she answered in a small voice, reluctantly coming to the realization that she had overreacted. "It's just…Taylor called and you know how that girl can piss me off. She just riled me up about it and the ESPN clip kept playing and I was having trouble remembering the part when you knocked her to her ass and…oh, I'm just sorry!" she threw up the hands she had been wringing nervously and looked up at him with shy eyes._

_Setting her jaw firmly, Haley approached her bed, unsurprisingly Nathan's favorite place on campus, where he was perched on the edge. Using her foot she kicked the door shut and then moved to grab his hands. "I'm sorry. You didn't deserve to have me freak out on you when you didn't do anything and when you guys won. I mean, you won! I shouldn't be kicking you out of my room."_

"_Well you didn't deserve to see some other girl with her hands all over me," Nathan conceded. It was a shitty thing for her to witness, even if he didn't have a part in it. "And you're not kicking me out of your room, are you?" he questioned hesitatingly._

_Haley laughed relieved before pulling him off the bed and wrapping him in a tight hug. "How many girls would kick you out of their room, let alone their bed, after a game like that?" she jokingly questioned._

"_You're not many girls, Haley James. And you've kicked me out of your bed many times after I played great games, don't think I've forgotten about those," Nathan reminded, keeping her tight in his embrace. Having that cheerleader jump him just reinforced what he had figured out a long time ago: no other girl would ever compare. "I love you," he murmured quietly into her hair._

"_Oh, you don't know how badly I want to make Jenna room with Jake tonight," Haley breathed out, relishing the way his words always put her at peace._

_Nathan sighed and she giggled as his chest rumbled against her cheek. "But you won't because…" he prodded gently. As much as he wanted to be with Haley, he was grateful that they at least shared the same bed nearly every night. Jenna had been a great sport about him sleeping in their room just as long as nothing happened with her still in it. No way was he doing anything that would piss her off and end that arrangement._

"_She has a major test tomorrow and needs the rest," Haley smiled sweetly. "Put her and Jake in the same room and they'd end up talking all night," she sighed lightly, reminiscing about young love. "They're really getting along aren't they?" she threw him a shirt she had long ago stolen while he pulled off his sweatpants._

"_Hate to burst your bubble, babe, but I don't think that's going anywhere, not any time soon at least," Nathan climbed into bed as Haley hit the lights, she slid in next to him and thumped his chest lightly for him to continue. "Call me Mr. Sensitive, but I get the feeling Jake didn't used to be as quiet as he is now. I think some girl wrecked him. He's told me that he likes Jenna a lot but I don't see him putting himself out there just yet."_

_Haley giggled against his chest despite the slightly serious nature of the conversation. "Well, Mr. Sensitive, wasn't that astute of you? I'll see what's up with Jenna because I know she's interested. But wouldn't that be awesomely convenient for us?"_

"_Mm," Nathan murmured in agreement, the light patterns she was tracing on his chest lulling his eyes closed. "Don't give me any false hopes," he mumbled back, feeling a brief kiss over his heart before he succumbed to sleep._

_***_

"_Nathan? Are you awake?"_

_Surprisingly the voice didn't come from the head resting on his chest but rather from across the room. He'd woken up in the dead of the night despite being wiped from the game and Haley's mini-tantrum. A glance at Haley's alarm clock told him that it was a little past three and for Jenna, the sleepaholic, to be conscious was shocking. "Yeah, Jenna, what's up?" his scratchy voice answered._

"_Do you…I know this is weird for you as a guy but do you think Jake likes me?" her timid voice asked under the cover of darkness._

_Nathan's brow instinctively furrowed. He knew Jenna to be the definition of a Southern Belle, all blonde ringlets and clear blue eyes, with a laidback personality and an infectious laugh. He would wager that she was a pretty girl with good character and the more he got to know her, the more he was glad that she was Haley's friend. "Now do you mean like or like like?"_

"_Like like," she responded obviously not amused by his attempt at a joke._

"_He talks about you…I mean, when he does talk," Nathan added, trying to remain as still as possible. "That's a good thing right?"_

"_I guess," was her tentative response._

_Nathan squeezed his eyes tight shut, not wanting to be such a pansy but at the same time seeing the brownie points piling up if he helped out Haley's roommate. "How did you know I was awake?" he questioned suddenly._

"_No offense, but you breathe really loud. Sometimes I think it's snoring, but, no, it's just Nathan Scott and his breathing," Jenna replied, pretty animatedly for three in the morning._

_Nathan just rolled his eyes. "Thanks," he responded wryly. "You're really observant," he blurted out and she made some kind of agreeing noise. "I guess it's just surprising. That you can't see how much he cares about you."_

_She didn't say anything afterwards and he couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing. Just then, Haley's hand slipped into his and her thumb rubbed comfortingly along the back of his hand, the simple action pulling him back into sleep. _

_The next morning he awoke with a note crushed into his hand, one of the few perks of her having morning classes. He read the note over silently and then chuckled, allowing his head to fall back on the pillow. _

Mr. Sensitive,

Tell Coach I'm sorry for stealing your jersey, forgot about that last night. Oh, and try to be more OBSERVANT of stray cheerleaders. By the way, since you were 'out' yesterday, my mom wanted to know if you're coming to Thanksgiving dinner. Call her.

Love you.

_Nathan fell back asleep dreaming of brownies._

The only good part of his weekend was interrupted by the dropping of Haley's pencil. Haley felt herself turning red and glanced away from Nathan's assessing gaze. "Maybe," she muttered. "Are you finally going to tell me what you've been doing all week instead of avoiding the question to purposefully piss me off? And did you call my mother like I told you to?"

"I did," Nathan answered her second question first, remembering exactly why it was that Haley could almost always win a battle of words. "Of course that was before our little…whatever Saturday night so should I call her back?" The words physically stung him to say and apparently hurt her to hear since she scrunched her forehead up in anger and pain. "And, yes, I am."

"Imply that we're broken up again. See what happens," Haley threatened seriously, her eyes burning with nothing short of rage. "I'm over the groupie thing, Nathan. You gave me plenty of reason to forget about that Saturday night and an hour ago. I've moved onto the fact that you're still keeping secrets from me. And how much that hurts."

"Sorry," he mumbled, his head hanging humbly. "It was supposed to be a surprise," Nathan sighed out. "We've been doing the Big Brother program with some of the kids from the orphanages in Winston and we were going to do something special for them at the game on Wednesday. I wanted to surprise you."

"Surprise me with what?" Haley questioned curiously, her eyes searching his.

"I don't know," he mumbled, "that I'd be good with kids, I guess. I've always been the jackass, you know, and Lucas the sensitive guy. I wanted you to know that I could be that other guy too."

Haley got up swiftly, nearly knocking the chair back, and stepped between his legs, settling her hands on his knees. "Nathan, that wouldn't have surprised me. I know what a great guy you are. You're amazing to me. Sometimes I forget about that jackass side of you and when I do see it, it's always been for a good reason. Nothing about you would surprise me. You could tell me that you cried after watching Titanic and I'm positive that I'd love you for it."

"I didn't cry after watching Titanic," Nathan protested, his stare meeting her teasing eyes belatedly. "I just wanted to impress you then," he corrected, "I would have told you this weekend but what you said Saturday made me think. And then we fought and you avoided me so I didn't have time to apologize and tell you what was going."

Haley pursed her lips tightly, causing him to lean forward slightly and peck them, easing her frown. "I'm sorry about how I reacted Saturday. It's just for the past two years you've always told me everything. Sometimes I had to back off and give you space but you always came to me. And this time, I waited two entire weeks! You still didn't say anything to me and I couldn't take it anymore."

"I'm sorry, too," Nathan smiled slightly, "I wanted to tell you right away because Matt's an awesome little kid and he's smart, a lot smarter than me at that age anyway, but I wanted to surprise you more. A lot of people here have done some really cool things and I wanted to give you a reason to be proud of me, other than basketball."

"Nathan, I'd be proud of you if you became a bum on the street. On that note, please don't become a bum on the street," Haley added on impressively quick. "You don't need to prove anything to me, or anyone else here. They can go screw themselves if they ask you to. Now what did I say that made you think?"

"That you didn't want to be together just because we were together in high school. I don't either, okay? I just want to always be this in love with you, more if it's possible. I want us to be together because I always want to be this happy," Nathan smiled brightly as her smile stretched wide and her arms circled tight around his neck, pulling him down to her. "Wait," her murmured against her lips, much to her huffy disappointment. "All that made me keep Matt from you because I wanted to surprise you with how good I could be. I wanted you to see that I could be good with kids and that I want everything with you."

"Nathan," Haley began, her voice surprisingly scolding, "I already knew that. I think of my future, whatever it turns out to be and the first thing I see is you. Sometimes it's a successful career, sometimes kids, sometimes both, sometimes neither, but always you. What do you think is the entire point of staying together through college?"

He couldn't stop the light chuckle. She really always was one step ahead of him. For every doubt he'd had, she'd already imagined and believed in the exact opposite. "Wait," he stalled her approaching lips again. "One more thing. I called Mom last weekend. I asked if she knew or could find any good families that are looking to adopt."

Haley's eyebrows went up suspiciously as a knowing smile formed. "Trying to find Matt a home?" she guessed correctly when he nodded his head.

"He really is a great kid and he deserves to have…nice things and parents who love him. Anyway Mom knows a kind of older couple and she says they're really nice. They just sent their last kid off to college and I guess they want another one. They want to meet Matt and they said I could be there too, if he wants. Matt asked me today if you could come too. He already really likes you," Nathan finished breathlessly. All of that felt like a ramble similar to the ones Haley dropped nearly every day.

"Can you blame him?" Haley asked in a mock-conceited voice. Before Nathan could even respond she had whipped his t-shirt over his head and was smiling broadly at his bare chest. "Of course I'll come," she agreed readily as he stretched out, his long legs accidentally knocking her backpack off the end of the bed. Haley eagerly jumped onto the bed and him, pulling her long sleeve t-shirt off as she went.

"Sensitive Nathan is so freaking sexy," she whispered into his mouth, ignoring his amused laughter. "Almost as sexy as Overprotective, Badass Nathan."


	13. Thanksgiving

"Jimmy!" The voice shrieked from the kitchen, accompanied by the sound of some girlish giggles. Jimmy exchanged some looks with his sons and son-in-law before grabbing the remote and turning up the volume, using the commentators' voices to drown out that of his wife's. "Jimmy James! If you do not get in the kitchen this instant, I WILL invite my mother to stay here during Christmas!"

With startling quickness for a man of his age, Jimmy rushed into the kitchen much to the amusement of his wife and daughters. He looked around at the bemused expressions on the females of the family before doing a quick head count. "Where's that damn daughter of yours? Maybe if she was here you wouldn't be interrupting my game," he grumbled out reluctantly, heading over to his wife.

"My daughter? Just last week when she called about the A she got on her paper she was your little girl," Lydia reminded him with a smile. "I need the meat thermometer."

"Well, she's your daughter when she's with that boy of hers. And how the heck am I supposed to know where the damn thing is?" Jimmy shot back, his twinkling eyes betraying his gruff and upset tone. "Damn girl was supposed to be here Tuesday night but, no, Nathan has a game and you wouldn't want him to spend the holidays alone," he mocked in a high-pitched voice.

Lydia smiled sweetly, "You mean the boy she's been dating for nearly two years and who treats her nothing short of wonderful? That boy? And you took it out of the drawer the last barbecue we had and never put it back. Now go find me the thermometer, Jimmy, and you can go back to your precious game. And stop making fun of one of my future sons-in-law."

Jimmy ignored his snickering daughters before storming out the back door over to the barbecue area. He got back and begrudgingly handed it over to the still smiling Lydia. "Your precious daughter called at ten and said they were in the car. I don't know why she isn't here yet."

A pregnant Vivian laughed loudly, "It's almost two thirty. Haley must be driving again."

"Eww, don't spit in the mashed potatoes, Viv," Taylor whined. "That, or they pulled over for some roadside sex which I know you're so happy to hear about, Daddy," she smiled sweetly as the girls watched their father's face turn ghost white.

Grumbling under his breath, he turned to leave the room when the kitchen door swung open of its own accord and nearly crashed into him.

"Who's happy to see me?" Haley yelled out, immediately getting ambushed by Vivian and Quinn. She and Taylor eyed each other suspiciously before being pushed together by the other two. "Nothing like a James sister hug," Haley groused out, slipping out from under Quinn's embrace and wrapping her arms around Jimmy. "The boys would like to see you outside," she whispered and he quickly escaped through the door.

"Hi, Mama," Haley smiled, taking away the meat thermometer she was being poked and prodded with. "How are you?"

"Oh now I exist. You're such a daddy's girl," she teased, grabbing back the item. "Where's loverboy? Marion's missed him." On cue the kitchen door swung open again, this time revealing a scowling Nathan holding Haley's backpack.

"Thanks for waiting up, babe," he sarcastically spewed. "Your duffelbag wasn't heavy at all. In fact, it practically flew up the stairs." In response Haley rolled her eyes and stomped out of the room, making sure to pause and give him a quick kick to the shin.

Nathan angrily rubbed at the spot before giving a big smile and doling out hugs to all the James women minus Taylor. They practically grunted at each other before turning their attention to other things. "What happened this time?" Lydia inquired as Vivian conned Nathan into manning the mashed potatoes while she rested her feet.

"Nothing, she's just all pissy cause we got pulled over on the way down. Twice," he added quietly, using his anger to give the potatoes a thorough mashing. "The first time we were still in Winston and the cop let us off with a warning when he saw my license. The second time…well I'll be hitting my dad up for some money tomorrow."

"Let me guess you tried to charm your way out," Quinn smiled knowingly, prying the masher out of his grip. "Definitely aren't any lumps in this thing," she murmured inspecting the bowl. "I don't know if we should be thanking Haley for pissing you off or Viv's hormones," she quipped, getting a cranberry thrown at her.

"Well it was a female officer," Nathan shrugged helplessly as everyone in the room burst out in knowing chuckles. "I was just trying to save myself a couple hundred bucks. How was I supposed to know Haley was going to flip shit when she propositioned me? All I got was a ticket, your daughter nearly got arrested for disorderly conduct."

Lydia just shrugged, "She's a James. It was bound to happen eventually, not even sweet, innocent, nonviolent Haley could escape that one."

"You should have heard the things she was suggesting to that cop. None of it was particularly sweet or innocent and she's got the violent thing down pretty well," Nathan scoffed, involuntarily smiling at the thought of little Haley James trying to start a fight with a trained police officer.

By the time Haley came down from her room, Nathan was sunk into a couch, disinterestedly watching the game with the rest of the James men, plus Eric, Vivian's husband, and minus Sean, Quinn's fiancé, who was with his own family. He had long given up on the beer Jimmy had practically shoved into his hand, ignoring his protests and mumbling something about James women, which the rest of the guys responded to with "Amen."

He felt something hit the back of his head and peered backwards over the couch to find the shirt he had leant to Haley for the game yesterday. For a second he commended the fact that she managed to aim right before screwing his mouth up and looking towards the still swinging kitchen door.

Reluctantly he pushed onto his feet and moved towards the kitchen, a chorus of "good luck" following him in. Though Haley was smiling at something Quinn just said, her face soured the moment she sensed his presence. "If you're smart you'll turn around and walk back out that door," she warned without even looking up.

"In case you're forgetting, I'm the one who needs to be tutored in nearly every class," Nathan responded, willing to put himself down for her. "We're talking," he commanded, pulling her off the stool she was occupying and into the backyard. Immediately he handed her the jacket he'd grabbed before going into the kitchen. Reluctantly, Haley wrapped the familiar hoody around herself, rolling her eyes the entire way.

"Now let me just say, I don't know who's at fault here but I'm going to apologize anyway cause that just seems to work better," he held his hands up in defense, noting the way she once again rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, I shouldn't have hit on her. You shouldn't have threatened to kick her ass. It's both our faults. I'm willing to be mature about this if you are," Nathan smirked, loving how she was so easily melting before his eyes.

"Yes, it's both our faults. Yes, I will kick your ass if you ever try to do anything like that again. Yes, I'm sorry," Haley conceded, closing in and slipping her arms around his waist.

Nathan chuckled before popping a kiss on her forehead. "I'm not. That's the hottest thing I've seen since you "apologized" to me for becoming friends with Jenna and not letting me kick her out of your room every night. Oh, and Halloween. Nothing beats Halloween."

Refusing to let him see her blush, Haley tiptoed and sealed her mouth over his, silencing his light laughter. Nathan reached into the long sleeves and easily found her hand, twining their fingers together. He smiled as she pushed further into him and easily slipped her tongue between his parted lips.

"Haley, I know he's good looking but this is a family function!" A mocking voice called out to them and Haley groaned, pulling back quickly and burrowing her head into Nathan's warm shoulder.

"A little privacy here, Viv," Nathan called out good-naturedly, moving his hands briskly over Haley's back. He glanced over to the back door and spied the oldest James sister leaning against the closed door with her hands resting lightly on her growing stomach.

Vivian just shrugged, "It's either the cool older sister, the parents, or the brothers catching you two, take your pick."

"Who says you're the cool one?" Haley retorted from somewhere within Nathan's shirt.

Vivian just shrugged, turning slightly to crack open the door. "Robbie! Connor! Adam!" she yelled loudly, her voice undoubtedly carrying through the house. Years of experience had taught every James child to allow themselves to be heard in a full house.

"Oh shit," Nathan swore under his breath, practically knocking Haley to the floor in his haste to put distance between them. The James brothers liked him just fine when he and Haley were fighting but for them to see their little sister all snuggled up with him? Well, he'd rather be locked in a room with Peyton and Brooke while both girls were pissed off at him.

Haley rolled her eyes as she barely caught her footing on the slippery concrete. She just smiled at Nathan's apologetic eyes and slipped past Viv to throw her brothers off the Scott scent. Lucas, Karen, and Keith were planning on stopping by later and she could only imagine how they would tease Nathan in front of Luke.

"Did you have to do that, Viv?" Nathan whined as he stepped into the kitchen after her.

"Hormones," she unapologetically shrugged, smiling falsely at him.

Plopping down onto a stool, Nathan stared forlornly at the kitchen door. "Jesus Christ, you can't screw with me like that. I'm not related to you yet, Viv," he grumbled, looking up when all other conversation stopped and he could feel four sets of eyes on him.

"Yet?" Quinn and Taylor both repeated empathetically, one with a look of pleasant surprise the other with barely concealed repugnance. "You said yet?" Quinn continued. "Nathan Scott, are you implying what I think you're implying?"

At his blank stare, Taylor jumped in, more than willing to offer a hint. "Are you going to propose?" she whispered the last word conspiratorially, leaning over the kitchen counter and casting furtive glances towards the door.

Nathan just shrugged nonchalantly, "Eventually, yeah. Is this news to you guys?" He was understandably perplexed by the way the James women flocked to this sort of news. "I thought the whole let's-stay-together-during-college thing would have given you guys that impression. I mean, Jimmy and I—," he was cut off by some wickedly high pitched yelling.

"Jimmy KNOWS about this?" Lydia practically screeched, her daughters unfazed by the volume or pitch of her voice. Nathan nodded back with widened eyes and was only more confused when her eyes started to water and she began sniffling. "Oh baby boy!" she exclaimed before wrapping him in the tightest hug possible.

The kitchen door swung open full force and Haley rushed in, eyes darting around like crazy. "What is going on in here?" she questioned taking in her smiling sisters and highly emotional mother. "Nathan, what did you do?"

"I'd tell you but I can't breathe right now," he choked out, flailing his arms slightly.

Lydia quickly pulled away from him before wiping underneath her eyes. Immediately she moved towards Haley and wrapped her in the same kind of hug, affectionately stroking her hair. "Nathan, what did you do?" she whispered again with an accusatory stare.

The second he opened his mouth to speak, Taylor jumped in again. "He was just telling mom about Tuesday's game. Apparently the last shot was enough to send her into hysterics," she improvised, sending Nathan a clear look to keep his mouth shut.

"Oh Haley," Lydia smiled slightly. "Go back in the living room and spend time with your father. He's going to miss you so much," she instructed, holding a hand to her mouth to cover a choked sob. Haley just stared at her mother weirdly even as she was being pushed backwards out the door.

"You! Don't speak!" she hissed to Nathan, barely avoiding the door closing on her face.

"Why didn't you let me talk? It's not like she doe—," Nathan was cut off by Taylor circling around behind him and flicking his ear, hard. "Ow," he exclaimed, grabbing the side of his head. "What was tha—?"

"Because that would have been the most unromantic thing ever, numbnuts," Taylor ground out. "I don't care if she can see an engagement ring coming from miles away. Viv probably knew Eric was going to propose months before he actually got the balls to do it. The point is to try and surprise her."

Quinn just rolled her eyes at her younger sister's antics. "Let's just get through this dinner without any more water works," she sent a pointed look at her mother, "or surprise proposals. Nathan, get back out there and send Haley back in here if any of you want to eat tonight."

"I don't even like football," he whined as he, too, was pushed out of the kitchen. "The James women have requested you," Nathan announced to Haley who was slumped on a couch pouting at the television screen. "You must go cook our meal now," he joked, getting a light kick to his shin for his trouble.

"Thank god!" Haley blew out exasperatedly. "No offense but I can't stand another second of Haley-dad-brothers "bonding,"" she even used air quotes on the last word. "You guys are so boring now. And basketball is so much easier to follow," Haley threw out as a last insult as she blew through the kitchen door.

The doorbell rang a few hours later, long after the delicious smells started floating into the room from the kitchen. In an attempt to curb their appetites, the men had long finished the snacks Lydia had set out for them earlier in the day. Suddenly, the doorbell pealed out and Nathan leapt up off the couch, completely uninterested in the outcome of the football game on TV. None of the other men even twitched, watching the screen intently, and Nathan shook his head at their foolishness.

The chime rang out again just as he was nearing the front door and he heard someone screaming in the kitchen to "answer the damn door already!" "I got it!" Nathan yelled over his shoulder, swinging open the door at the same time. When he looked back at the woman standing on the front step with a pie in hand, his eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hair. "Mom?" Nathan choked out, practically motionless as she enthusiastically hugged him, mindful of the pie, tiptoed to kiss his cheek, and slipped past him into the hallway.

Wordlessly, Nathan watched as she shrugged off her coat and hung it up before yelling at him to close the door before the draft got in. Automatically, his hand reached out to slam the door but he was stopped by the gruff voice from outside. "Wait a minute there, son," Dan spoke up as he, too, slipped past Nathan's shocked form. "Deb," he greeted stoically before hanging up his jacket and following her into the living room.

Nathan barely remembered to shut the door as he stumbled into the living room, completely surprised to see his father talking animatedly with Jimmy. He assumed his mom had headed for the kitchen and dazedly pushed the door open, poking his head in. "Uh," he started with wide eyes, seeing his mom chopping up vegetables with perfect ease, "anyone need help?" The offer must have come as a surprise since six women looked up in complete and utter shock.

"What did you just say?" Deb questioned incredulously, her hand flying up to cover the hearty chuckles she could just feel escaping. Nathan opened his mouth as if to repeat himself and she just shook her head. "No, I'm sorry, honey. I heard you perfectly. No matter how eager to help he may sound, Haley, never let Nathan into a kitchen. Not if you plan on eating that night."

As the women dissolved into giggles, laughing at the misfortune of men, Nathan retreated from the kitchen, collapsing into an armchair and contemplating when he entered the Twilight Zone.

***

"Alright," Jimmy started in a loud, booming voice as everyone gathered around the food-covered dining table. The TV still blared in the background and held the attention of at least Adam and Eric. "I know this is a little different than what you're used to, Deb, Dan," he spoke with an easy smile as the former couple shook their heads in disagreement.

It was a James family tradition, started after their third child, to have Thanksgiving dinner, and any other holiday, as informally as possible. Though the food had been prepared for hours and cooked to perfection, it was strictly a paper-plates-and-plastic-silverware affair. Nathan had enjoyed his first Thanksgiving with the James more than any other one as he and Haley lounged on the stairs, away from her prying siblings and the drama of his parents' divorce, and jokingly fed each other small bites.

"Are you kidding Jimmy?" Deb asked with a large grin, "I hated those stuffy, formal dinners when I was a kid. I still do sometimes. And I don't blame you for one second, Lydia, this has got to be so much easier to clean up." Nathan's jaw practically dropped as his mom interacted so naturally with his girlfriend's parents. It wasn't long before Haley subtly elbowed him and he snapped his mouth shut.

"Don't you know it!" Lydia exclaimed laughing, "Seven kids! I don't care how it looks just as long as they'll eat it and I can dump everything in the trash right after."

"Anyway," Jimmy grumbled, eying his disruptive wife with a mock glare. "It's also a tradition to have everyone go around and say something they're thankful for, other than the spread we have here. And no repeats." He shot his sons, who had successfully conned their way out of tradition for many years with similar excuses, a knowing look.

The table went around quickly, the boys getting by with one word answers. Nathan and Haley exchanged each other's names, ignoring the 'aww's' of the moms and her sisters and the eye rolls of the men and Taylor. Nathan couldn't help but chuckle when The Dan Scott rolled up the sleeves of his button-down and dug into the food, helping himself to generous portions of sweet potatoes and stuffing, all the while arguing with Jimmy over football strategy.

"I didn't know your dad knew football," Haley whispered down to him. He had sunk onto a large armchair while she perched precariously above him, half on his leg and half on the armrest. "I thought you Scotts were basketball crazed?"

Nathan nodded and swallowed down his mouthful of mashed potatoes before answering. "Yeah, he played PeeWee before Grandpa figured out that he was better at basketball. Lucas played when he was younger, right?"

"Yeah," Haley mumbled, "He was better at basketball, too, though. That's funny. How they were similar like that."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang out and Lydia went to the door to let in Keith, Karen, and Lucas. All of their jaws dropped as they took in Deb and Dan eating off paper plates and chatting idly with various members of the James family. Lucas was particularly bug-eyed when he saw his 'father' cursing loudly at the television screen when a quarterback fumbled.

Shaking himself from his shock, Lucas quickly opened his arms for Haley who had leapt from the chair, nearly knocking over her and Nathan's plates, and raced towards him. "Buddy!" Haley shrieked loudly, ignoring the grumbling she received from her brothers to shut up. "How's UNC? How's life? Tell me everything," she prodded, taking his hand and dragging him over to Nathan, who hadn't bothered to get up from his seat or his food. "Actually, I don't need to know her name or what you did with her that you regret," she joked as the boys shared a fist bump.

"Which one?" Nathan teased as he and Lucas shared a knowing smirk.

Haley's jaw dropped slightly as she took in her proud boyfriend and her cocky best friend. "Oh, gross, never mind," she muttered, quickly shoveling food into her mouth as if it would wipe away the image of her best friend with multiple, possibly skanky girls.

The two boys shared a laugh before Lucas quickly moved to the dining table, hungry again despite the large Thanksgiving feast Karen had practically forced down his throat.

"This is nice," she murmured quietly after they'd been stuffed full. Nathan had pulled her fully into his lap with her legs thrown over one side of the chair and held her close to him, her head fitting just under his chin. The football game was almost all but forgotten as family members chatted noisily, talking over one another. Lucas talked enthusiastically of his college experiences and, almost surprisingly, Dan wore the same proud look as Keith and Karen when he spoke of his basketball games and academic achievements.

Nathan nodded in response, his head dipping to drop a kiss on the top of hers, and sighed contently. Haley giggled slightly at the unexpected feel of his chest rising before relaxing further and pressing closer against his warmth. Eagerly, her mind filled with visions of family gatherings just like this for years to come.

* * *

"Nathan!" Haley stage-whispered. Amused, she pushed a finger in between his shoulder blades and easily escaped the hand that half-heartedly moved to swat her away. He was sprawled out on the downstairs couch, face down and butt in the air. The pillows had been thrown on the ground, except for the one jammed under his head, and the blanket she had covered him with was tangled around his legs. All in all, he was a perfectly adorable picture but they were late and she needed him awake and not lightly snoring.

She almost giggled remembering how hesitatingly Nathan took the proffered pillows and blanket from her dad. His disappointed look was clear when she informed him that all of her siblings plus a spouse being back made her room into her and Taylor's room, just like it had been when they were younger. He grudgingly accepted the couch when her parents insisted that it was much too late for him to make the thirteen-minute drive home.

Haley leveled a firm kick into his upper leg and was satisfied when he grunted a "What?" and buried his head further into the pillow. "Get up!" Haley insisted, a little too pleased with her boyfriend's grouchy morning attitude. "We have to meet everyone at Karen's in like thirty minutes and you still need to shower and change, at least change."

"Who the hell decided on having breakfast?" Nathan muttered bitterly as he sat up on the couch and took the cup of coffee from Haley's hand. She frowned disapprovingly at him before her mother suddenly appeared to hand her a fresh one. "This is dumb. I should still be sleeping."

"The early bird catches the worm, Nate," Lydia advised wisely before winking at her daughter and retreating to the kitchen. "Good morning."

Nathan wanted so badly to stick his tongue out at her back but restrained himself, instead muttering something about Haley's genes. "I heard that, mister," she warned teasingly. "You should really get up though if we plan on being on time. Well, if I plan because I know you don't. How'd you sleep?"

"Horrible," Nathan mumbled. "I kept waking up and expecting to find your butt dead asleep on top of me but, no, freaking Taylor had to be home. That girl is a pain in—," he stopped short seeing her glare, "our relationship every time she's around. I swear she has it in for me. How much do you tell your sisters anyway?"

"Taylor doesn't have it in for you. She's still bitter at Luke for turning her down all those times so she's mean to you too. She's such a little…hussy sometimes," she made a face at Nathan's mock disapproving glare before continuing, "And I don't tell my sisters much, just whatever I can't talk to Luke about."

"So like…sex?" His whispered voice and the awed forehead scrunch he was sporting made her want to laugh. This had to be the first time ever since he was properly introduced to the topic that Nathan Scott was embarrassed by the thought of S-E-X. "Haley, do they know that we have _sex_?"

Haley just shrugged, "Maybe, probably. I've never said it outright but it's not like it's hard to guess. I don't bring it up anymore. The one time I mentioned it to Viv she turned bright red, started choking on her water, and yelled for Mom. I think I was nine or ten."

Nathan watched wordlessly as his girlfriend continued to nonchalantly ramble about her discussing _sex_ with her siblings. Reaching up, he clamped a hand over her mouth that was going a mile a minute. "All right, where are my shoes? We're getting out of here right now. I don't think I can face your sisters this morning. Let's go."

Before Haley even had a second to react he had pulled on his Jordans, made a mad dash for his car keys and their jackets, and dragged her out to the car. "You are so lucky I'm already dressed," Haley threatened but he responded with a disbelieving roll of his eyes.

Haley sat quietly in the car while Nathan drove. Earlier he had reached over and taken her hand in his but currently they both preferred the silence since the surprise of both their families in one night had talked them out. A smile came to her face as she thought of the others that they would be meeting. The others comprised of Luke, Brooke, Peyton, and possibly Skills, Bevin, and Mouth if they had gotten her message.

Tim had decided to put off his homecoming for a few more weeks until winter break started. For the current vacation he had driven into California to spend the long weekend with his cousins. Instinctively Haley knew that the delay was a relief for Tim's dreaded stepmother. Even Karen had a marked dislike for the former booster mom, always rolling her eyes after she'd exited the cafe leaving behind some false compliments and fake laughter.

Skills and Bevin were attending the local community college together with Skills working part-time at his dad's steel factory and were even thinking of finding an apartment to share. Mouth on the other hand had left for Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, which his family was better able to afford thanks to his good grades and academic scholarships.

Driving down Main Street, she caught sight of a familiar curly blonde and not surprisingly of the older man laughing alongside her. After Peyton had left Tree Hill for New York, Larry Sawyer had taken to accepting even more jobs that took him farther and farther away from home. Even though it was more acceptable to leave Peyton by herself, especially since she was living on campus and out of state, he had felt guilty for his negligence through high school. All that led to a pact to spend every holiday together in Tree Hill, when he was sure that he would have the time off and the extra money for her plane tickets. Even from the brief glimpse Haley could see that it was the happiest Peyton had been in a long time.

Nathan quickly parked and stopped the engine. Both of them stepped out of the car at the same time but only Haley was ambushed by the brunette girl running straight toward them. "Tutor Girl!" Haley miraculously slowed Brooke down as she came crashing into her slight form, Nathan raising a slightly concerned eyebrow on the other side of the car.

The college cheerleader had almost opted out of driving back to Tree Hill since her parents were more than likely in some exotic location and completely unmindful of their daughter. Reluctantly, she agreed when Peyton made it more than clear that she was welcome at the Sawyer house for Thanksgiving dinner and of course for sleeping over. Haley was pleased to find her friend in just as good spirits as she had been during her visit in October.

They walked into the Cafe and found the crew squeezing into the only corner booth that would hold them all. Skills and Bevin were huddled up on a chair they had dragged over while Lucas rolled his eyes at their PDA. Brooke had squished in next to Peyton and without any thought they all scooted over so that Nathan and Haley could sit together. Larry greeted them all before heading over to the counter to talk with Keith and Karen, not wanting to intrude on teenager time.

"Peyton, love life, go!" Brooke commanded with a teasing smile after they had all rattled off their orders to the waitress. Her best friend not-so-discreetly elbowed her in the side and Brooke gasped in response. "Whatever, Goldilocks, I've told you all about Evan so spill."

"You're still with Evan?" Nathan interjected with a questioning eyebrow.

"I, much like you Superstar, have had a change of heart. And I'm now perfectly capable of staying with one person for an extended period of time. I'm not saying we're getting married or anything but I like spending time with him," she succinctly informed the group not missing the chance to glare when Bevin quietly snickered into Skills' shoulder. "Shut up, Bevin," she grumbled to her blonde friend.

"Sorry, Brooke," Bevin gasped out, lifting her head from Skills' shoulder. In apology she turned the spotlight back onto Peyton, "So, Peyt, you were saying earlier about Guy."

Haley held up a hand confused, "I don't mean to go Tutor Girl on you, Bev. But it's _a guy_ not just guy."

"No, it's Guy," the former cheerleader insisted, staring at Haley oddly. "Haley, I know I wasn't valedictorian but, come on, I can get a guy's name right."

"See, _a_ guy," Haley insisted until she looked over at Peyton who was trying desperately not to burst out in laughter. "What?"

"His name is Guy, Hales," Peyton revealed as Haley flushed in embarrassment and Brooke made a face. "Okay, what do you want to say, Brooke?"

"Is he like some art school freak? Does he own a black beret and wear too tight black pants?" Brooke questioned with a raised eyebrow and grossed-out expression.

The other three girls could hardly contain their laughter at Brooke's usual shallow questions. "Yes and no," Peyton responded, "Think white t-shirt, faded, loose jeans, shaggy brown hair, clear green eyes…"

"Okay, okay, we got the point," Haley laughed, clearly amused by Peyton's far-off, dreamy stare. Turning slightly, she caught sight of Lucas' broody squint and tilted her head. "Can I talk to you outside Lucas?" Thankfully the two of them were sitting on the ends of the booth and easily escaped out the front door.

"You okay with this, Luke? Brooke and Peyton and their new love lives?" she questioned with a look of concern, wrapping her arms around herself.

He managed a smile at her, "Yeah, it's cool. It was just high school, you know? I've been…dating, too, Hales."

"Okay, still don't need to know," Haley held up a hand to stop him. "And what do you mean it's just high school?" she asked.

"Oh! Well, not for you and…it's just…you know what I mean," he finished lamely, not appreciating her laughing at his trip-up. He slung a friendly arm around her shoulders, giving her a half hug before they made their way back to the group.

***

A honk from the driveway had Haley scrambling into action. Quickly, she gave her remaining family members warm hugs and shouted her goodbyes and Christmas wish list on her way out the door.

"Hey, babe," Nathan greeted her with a short kiss after he stepped out of his car to throw her gym bag into the trunk. "Mom doubled back to make sure she turned off the stove and shut the bathroom window. She said we should go ahead and she'd catch up."

"If that's what she said, let's get going," Haley responded with an agreeable shrug. They were leaving early that Sunday morning so that they could stop in Raleigh and have lunch with the West's, the family that had adopted Nathan's little brother, Matthew. Deb had decided to tag along since she hadn't seen the family in a while.

"No speeding," she instructed him, holding her pinky out.

Nathan dropped into the driver's seat, waving to the family still gathered in the doorway. "No threatening cops," he replied in kind before sealing the deal with a pinky promise.

Haley watched curiously as Nathan made another turn, leading them into a more questionable area. "Nathan, are you sure we're not lost?" she asked, rolling her eyes at the dirty look he sent her way. "Fine, we're not lost. I guess I expected Raleigh to be more city-like. What's up with all the…" Her hands gestured to the scenery outside the windows.

Nathan chuckled at her quietly. "Haley, the West's live in the Raleigh area, not in the actual city. This is some rich suburban area called Oak Lake or something like that. Raleigh's further down the highway."

She settled for a quiet "oh" and resumed her staring out the window at the large houses with manicured front lawns and matching custom 'Welcome' signs with hand-painted last names. "This place is…"

"Sickening and completely unrealistic?" Nathan supplied as he turned down yet another identical residential road.

"Basically," Haley nodded in agreement. "It looks safe," she supplied helpfully, "you know, a nice place for Matt to grow up. There was a park with a basketball court on that corner."

"Plenty of parks in Tree Hill, plenty of basketball hoops too," he defended, "And the houses definitely don't look like someone popped them off an assembly line. Anyway, tell me when you see 1845 because I think it's on your side."

Nathan parked at the end of the cul-de-sac with the West's house and they waited for Deb to pull up before walking up to the impressively sized home. Gary West, who'd they met previously with Matt, opened the door, greeting them with a smile as he called for his wife Catherine before leading them to the backyard.

Matt was anxious to ambush Nathan the second he saw him but his better efforts were restrained by a pretty, blonde, twenty-something. Quickly, she led him over at a pace dictated by the little boy who managed a polite "Hi, Nathan. Hi, Haley" before attaching to Nathan's legs.

"What's up, Matt?" Nathan grinned, reaching down to grab the boy by the waist and flip him upside down. He was quickly scolded by the adults and Haley and set Matt down again with a shrug.

"Nathan, Haley, this is our daughter, Melanie. She's a grad student at UNC Chapel Hill," Gary introduced and they both shook her hand. "And this is our son, Damien. I'm sure you two will have lots to talk about, Nathan, Damien plays for…"

"Duke," Nathan finished with a smirk. "How's it going, West?"

Damien smirked and reached his hand out to shake Nathan's. Haley could only roll her eyes at the way the two boys were obviously trying to crush the other's hand. "Not bad, Scott. Big time school, big time program. Just like I predicted way back during High Fliers."

"Really, man? How's your playing time? Because from what I've heard you don't get any," Nathan bit back, pleased with the dark look that quickly flashed over Damien's expression.

Haley and Melanie let out similar groans of disbelief before sharing an understanding, pitying smile. "Before you two start outright fighting, why don't you think of Matt and try and set a good example?" Melanie interrupted, giving the two more of an order than a suggestion. "Go play basketball or something."

"I thought you wanted them to stop fighting," Haley questioned with a teasing smile as both Nathan and Matt glared at her. "Before they get too excited about basketball, do you need help with anything, Mrs. West?"

"No, of course not, Haley. Nathan and Matt go play. Damien, help your father with the barbeque in case he decides to set the house on fire," Catherine instructed, leaving no room for argument. "And you three ladies can keep me company in the kitchen…or watch the boys, whichever you prefer."

Haley saw Damien approach the basketball court where Matt and Nathan were having a friendly game of horse. She expected him to join in and was surprised when he lingered on the sideline, finally drifting towards her. When he knelt on the asphalt next to her, she managed to push a friendly smile onto her face.

"You'd look better in blue," he smirked, an eyebrow raised in invitation.

Raising her own eyebrow in question, Haley nearly laughed out loud. She couldn't remember the last time someone had dared to hit on her in front of Nathan, not that she wasn't perfectly capable of defending her own honor and whatnot. "Excuse me?"

"Mrs. Scott said you got accepted to Duke. You should have come. Royal blue would have looked really good on you," Damien charmed and she scoffed in response. "What? I'll show you a good time. Don't worry about Pretty Boy over there. I'll take care of him."

At the reminder, she turned her head and gave the intently watching Nathan an overly bright smile and enthusiastic wave. "Yeah, I highly doubt you're capable of that. And in case you're wondering I mean both showing me a good time and taking care of Nathan. Good try though."

Still smirking, he handed her a scrap of paper. "Well, in that case, here's my number. Just in case you change your mind. Don't hesitate to call anytime, anywhere."

Taking the paper, Haley pocketed it, fighting not to roll her eyes the entire time. "Oh, yeah, sure. You can expect my call the second Tuesday of next week."

For a second, he looked triumphant before realization dawned in his eyes and Haley sent him a sarcastic smile. Sending her a glare, Damien jogged onto the court, calling for the ball. Haley watched with satisfaction when Nathan passed it a little harder than necessary, causing Damien to take a stabilizing step backwards. Sure, she could stand up for herself, but it certainly didn't hurt to have help, especially when help looked like that.

The rest of the afternoon passed smoothly, without Damien making any more unintentional invitations to have his face rearranged. It was closer to dinner time before Nathan and Haley decided that they should finish the drive back to campus, much to Matt's disappointment. The West's walked them to their cars and Nathan and Damien exchanged a few more fighting words, much to everyone else's disapproval.

"See you in a few weeks, Scott. You're going to need to be in shape for the a-s-s whooping you're going to get," Damien sent a protective glance down towards Matt, realizing his near use of profanity.

Nathan just chuckled, looking up from where he was kneeling next to Matt, "Bring your best pom-poms, West. We both know the only thing you're going to be doing is riding the pine pony." He circled around to the driver side of the car while Haley spoke a little longer with Damien and Melanie finally leaning down to hug Matt.

"What is that?" Nathan questioned, casting her a side look after she'd settled into the car and fastened her seatbelt. She raised an eyebrow and he sighed, "The piece of paper? In your hand?"

"Oh you mean this?" she smirked as she waved the paper in front of his eyes. "Just a little bit of paper with some writing on it. Nothing much. Why do you ask?"

Nathan gritted his teeth, knowing that his girlfriend was having the time of her life playing him. "Who gave it to you? Damien?"

"He offered me his number," Haley chirped happily. She fell back into her seat when Nathan suddenly pulled away from the curb, accelerating down the quiet neighborhood street. "Said I could call anytime, anywhere."

Anyone else would have opened the car door and rolled out at Nathan's chilling glare but Haley could only laugh at his jealous streak. "But I threw that out. This is just Melanie's email address so I can ask her about Matt's birthday party."

Immediately, he visibly relaxed, the white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel finally giving away. "Are you trying to get me to commit murder? That wasn't funny, Hales. West is an ass, always has been. Matt likes him fine but he's still a huge prick."

"Fine," Haley blew out, faking exasperation. "Let's go back to school where everyone knows who you are and won't dare to talk to me for fear of getting their face broken." Nathan sent her a surprised look and opened his mouth to retort before she stopped him. "Kidding, I swear. Now drive."


	14. North Carolina

Nathan became aware of someone pulling a chair up behind his and he craned his neck backwards, smiling at the person he found. He pulled his headphones out of his ears and set his book down, tilting his head back so Haley could place a chaste kiss on his lips before she settled behind him, her arms wrapping around his shoulders.

"How was class?" He could feel her arms tightening around him, indicating that she had shrugged. It was really ridiculous how well Haley had taken to college. Though she still had her overachiever attitude and stuck to her homework and reading schedule, she seemed a lot less stressed and more prepared for her classes than she had been in high school. It was as if she knew she couldn't fail. Needless to say, he completely envied her.

"How about yours?" Haley asked, her breath hitting the back of his ear. He shrugged, too, in response and her hands moved to massage his shoulders, kneading the knots she found there. "All right, so I just ran into Jake when I was looking for you."

"Really?" his brow furrowed. "I was sitting in here to wait for you. Plus, Jake was doing his brooding thing and that really is a one-man job."

Haley sighed, leaning on his shoulders to adjust her position slightly. "Okay, fine, I popped into your room and caught him unawares. I found out something fairly interesting and he's given me permission to tell you."

He scoffed slightly, "As if you wouldn't tell me anyway."

"I can keep a secret," Haley protested and pinched the back of his neck in punishment. He didn't need to turn around to see her pout but he did grin at the mental picture. "I'm telling you now so pay attention."

_Haley knocked lightly on the wooden door. When no one replied, she cracked the door open, knowing that the boys had a habit of never locking their door no matter how many times she told them to. Instead of finding her dear boyfriend asleep as she expected, she found Jake sitting on his bed and staring at a teddy bear on his desk._

_As if he spotted her when the teddy bear did, Jake swiveled his head, looking completely caught off-guard for a moment. "I knocked, I swear," Haley quickly offered, "No one answered and you guys normally leave your door unlocked so I just thought I'd check in case Nathan had fallen asleep or something."_

"_It's okay, Haley," Jake reassured her with an effortless grin. "I don't know where Nathan is right now…" he shrugged apologetically and Haley smiled and turned to go. "Actually, can I ask you something?"_

_She nodded in response and he motioned for her to sit at his desk chair. "Does Jenna like me?" he questioned, so cute and hopeful that Haley wanted to blurt out 'YES! Now please go ask her out!' Instead, she bit her tongue, desperate to remain loyal to her roommate who'd gone into denial about liking Jake._

_He sighed, noting her hesitation in answering. "All right, let's try it this way. Can you tell that I like Jenna?"_

_Haley smirked, a habit she really needed to nip in the bud. "In other surprising news, Jake, the sun rose this morning." Jake immediately grimaced and Haley was suddenly reminded of a nugget of wisdom Nathan had once bestowed on her: no guy liked being called out on his crush._

"_That obvious, huh?" he managed with a self-deprecating smile. "Think you could tell me why she's been avoiding me since we got back from Thanksgiving break? You don't have to, I mean. But I'd like to think I didn't completely screw this up."_

_The light bulb in her head practically lit the room. "I'll tell you why if you tell me why you want to know," Haley offered, not entirely sure if Jake would go for it. Despite how he suddenly seemed more relaxed and comfortable than she had ever seen him, he was a pretty private person. She hated that she was intruding on that but it was for Jenna's sake._

"_At the end of junior year, I started dating this girl, Nikki. She was older, a freshman in college, and we had a pretty serious relationship," Jake started after a moment's hesitation. Haley's eyes widened. She hadn't expected him to actually tell her, or at least not jump right in like that._

"_Nikki had a daughter, Jenny. The father was out of the picture, obviously. Jenny was just about six months old when we first started dating. And, you know, I took it pretty seriously. I started to believe that I was, or at least could be, Jenny's father. By the time March rolled around, I was seriously planning on staying in town, going to CC, being with Nikki, and being Jenny's father."_

"_But Nikki found out. She thought I was throwing away my future by not even considering going to a 4-year school and playing basketball like I had always said I wanted to. I told her that it was my decision and taking care of her and Jenny was what I wanted to do with my life. One day I went over to her house, like I normally did, and they were gone. Her parents told me that she had gone to live with some relatives and didn't want me knowing where she went. You know, so I couldn't follow her and ruin my life some more. It amazed me but both of our parents agreed with her and they pushed me to choose a school."_

"_So on April 1__st__, I sent in my deposit to Wake. I had planned on going to Penn State because they had offered me a bigger scholarship but I just couldn't be that close to home anymore. How I've been the past few months, mopey, closed-off, broody, that's not how I really am, at least I don't think so."_

"_During the break I went and talked with Nikki's parents and they told me that she was doing really well. They gave me some pictures of Jenny that Nikki had sent and asked them to show me if I came around. It felt really good finding out that they were doing okay. Jenny's birthday is in a week so I went to that Build-A-Bear factory or whatever and made her this." He finally picked up the teddy bear and handed it to her. "I'm going to send it to Nikki's parents and ask if they could get it to her in time."_

"_I think I'm ready to move on now," Jake concluded, glancing over at Haley. "Move on as in date Jenna, or letting her know that I'd like to," he explained, smiling when she did. "But you have to promise not to tell her this. I want to explain it right…so she understands why I acted the way I did at the beginning."_

"_I promise I won't tell her," Haley swore easily, "And just to let you know, Jake, you're a really good guy and Jenna knows that and if I know her even half as well as I think I do, she likes you. So, you know, sooner is better."_

"_I'll keep that in mind," he grinned as she stood and headed for the door. "You're going to go tell Nathan now, aren't you?" Jake questioned, smiling when Haley turned and he saw the guilt written all over her face. "Go ahead. He'll know me better, like you do now. It's kind of nice."_

"Wow, that's intense," Nathan muttered in shock. His mind raced as he imagined being in that kind of position and not even out of high school. Most guys would have gone running in the opposite direction but Jake…it made sense that Jake stayed. More than just stayed, he'd done all he could and then been denied the chance to do more.

"I told you he had girl issues." Haley scooted closer to sit on the edge of her seat and peered carefully into his expression. "You guys are never going to talk about it, aren't you?" she questioned knowingly as Nathan shrugged in response.

"Probably not. We're guys. We don't talk about things," he explained even though she knew perfectly well how guys acted. "Someone's calling," Nathan announced before reaching in his pocket to fish out his cell phone. He read over the Caller ID and grimaced, showing the screen to her. Rolling her eyes, Haley gestured at Nathan to answer the call and he reluctantly did so.

"Hi, Dad," Nathan mumbled into the phone, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

"Nathan, is Haley with you?" came the unexpected, abrupt question and Nathan made another face at his girlfriend.

Sighing, he answered, "Dad, if you wanted to talk to Haley, you could have just called her. But, yeah, she's right here."

"I need to talk to you, Nathan. I just wanted to make sure Haley's there because, well, she's the only one who can actually handle you. I'm about two hours away from your campus," Dan announced, Haley easily overhearing the words from her position right next to Nathan's ear.

His eyes bulged and he made a sound that slightly resembled choking, or was it dying? Haley obligingly rubbed his back and jerked her head to tell him that he should respond. "Why?" Nathan managed to spit out, with relatively little hostility.

"Because of tonight. It's a perfect time for us to show our support. Your mother is coming, too, by the way. She's about two feet behind my car and refuses to stop tailgating me," Dan muttered annoyed. "Anyway, I'll see you in two hours. Well, not you, you'll be warming up. Good luck, Nathan."

Nathan stared at the phone in disbelief for a moment before quickly standing and shoving the phone back into his pocket, shuffling his feet towards the door. "I've got to get to the Athletic Center," he mumbled to his concerned girlfriend, easily shifting past her to move down the hallway towards his own room.

"Not for another twenty minutes!" Haley called out, unabashedly pursuing him down the corridor. She burst into the room seconds after he did, much to the surprise of Jake who was crouched at the end of his bed, tying up his shoelaces. "Sorry, Jake," she blurted out, "Couples drama."

Hearing the words and seeing the expressions on both their faces, he doubled the speed of his fingers and grabbed his gym bag, pausing at the door. "Good luck…both of you," he added with a smirk, calling out to Nathan not to be late.

"Talk to me," Haley demanded, after she had shut and locked the door, hoping to keep their argument out of their peers' gossip schedule. "Nathan," she implored when he ignored her request and moved around the room, stuffing things into his own gym bag.

Nathan grabbed his ankle brace off his desk, a precaution for some slight pain he had noticed earlier in the week, and efficiently fit it over his right ankle. "Nothing to talk about," he replied, a stern look on his face as he encountered his girlfriend's glare.

"Bullshit," she responded in kind, moving to stand in front of the door when he began zipping up his bag. "Come on, this is big. What are you thinking?"

"Nothing, Hales," Nathan blew out, "We both knew this was coming. Dad wasn't going to stay away forever. I just didn't expect him to choose this weekend, this game, all right? I should have but I didn't. There's nothing left to talk about. They're already on their way and it's not like I can ask security to kick my parents out of the game."

"Why not?" she asked, half-serious and half-teasing. "Is there anything I can do?" Haley questioned hesitantly, smiling at the pout and head shake he responded with.

Nathan brushed his lips against her forehead and managed a faint smile for her. "Wish me good luck," he ordered, pressing his lips to hers as she did so. "And there will be no cheering for the opposite team, okay?" he questioned, waving a finger in her face. "It's all me tonight, baby."

"_And early in the second half, North Carolina sends in freshman Lucas Scott. This is the fourth game of the season in which Lucas has seen playing time though his brother, Nathan, also a freshman, has been a staple of the Demon Deacon playbook since the beginning of the season. According to our sources, this is the first ever game in which the brothers have played against each other on opposing teams. In honor of this event, their father, Dan Scott, is in the crowd tonight."_

"They certainly got that one wrong," Keith grinned over the counter at Karen. "Didn't anyone tell them about that one-on-one game when Nathan nearly busted open Luke's lip and then Luke practically dislocated Nathan's elbow?"

"Hush, Keith," she warned with a glare. "I'm sure they mean in a gym with people watching. How do you think they're doing, knowing that Dan's there?" Deb had invited her along earlier in the week, but Karen had turned the woman down, knowing that the eight-hour round trip would surely be too much for her. Lucas had other games that were much closer and less stressful.

"Honestly?" Keith questioned with a raised eyebrow. "I'm surprised Nathan hasn't fouled out of the game yet or injured someone. And here we go," he blew out, when the ref blew the expecting whistle and the scene on TV unfolded.

"_And both Scott's are on the floor. That was certainly a mismatch. Nathan's a forward and Lucas a shooting guard; those two shouldn't have been anywhere near each other. There's Lucas helping his younger brother to his feet and the referee will call it as blocking on Nathan Scott, Lucas will go to the line for two."_

"Haley, what are you doing?" Jenna questioned curiously over the roar of students trying to distract Lucas from sinking his free throws. She, like the other fans, had been preoccupied with the 'unfair' ruling and hadn't noticed her roommate's odd behavior. "Hales?"

"Can't look," Haley mumbled. Unlike the rest of the stadium, especially the student section, she had sunk into her seat and had her eyes squeezed shut, fingers crossed. She could sense Jenna's eyes on her from above and blew out a tired sigh. "I promised Nathan I wouldn't cheer for Lucas. I can't look. It hurts too much."

"You, my dear, are completely ridiculous," Jenna laughed before turning her attention back to the court. By the crowd's reaction, Haley could tell that Lucas had made the first but missed the second. She couldn't help but smile; Nathan always had been better at free…shots.

***

Haley rubbed her hands together briskly, regretting her decision not to bring gloves. Of course, standing between Dan and Deb only added to the chilly atmosphere. Maybe it was how they had studiously avoided each other over Thanksgiving or how she hadn't seen either in weeks but she had forgotten just how awkward it could get around them.

The three of them were waiting outside the player's entrance along with a few other diehard fans. Nathan's team, despite a hard-played game, had lost, though it wasn't a surprise to most college basketball devotees. The Demon Deacons were much improved, thanks in part to their star freshman, but certainly no match for the Tar Heels, at least not yet. She could only hope that the disappointing loss wouldn't send Nathan over the edge, especially considering the presence of the man she was standing next to.

A long line of weary players began filing out of the exit, many of them briefly acknowledging Haley with a short nod or small smile. As expected, Nathan was the last out. Haley immediately rushed up next to him, trying not to fawn over him in front of his teammates and coaches, knowing that it would only embarrass him.

Smiling for a brief moment, he squeezed her hand that she had slipped into his, allowing her to tiptoe and peck his cheek. He sent a wary glance towards his parents before approaching, accepting a hug from Deb and a handshake from Dan.

She drifted closer, hearing Dan's deep voice echo across the relatively quiet parking lot. "You played well tonight, Nathan. Good game," the older man offered his youngest son with an anxious look.

Nathan allowed a brief smile to shine through and she could tell from his sigh of relief that he had been expecting something much worse from the older Scott, especially considering that his team had lost. "Thanks, Dad," he finally responded when she sidled up next to him, elbowing him lightly. "Probably shouldn't have fouled Luke though."

"Would have helped," Dan chuckled lightly, remembering his feeling of dread when the two boys went crashing into each other and then onto the wood floor. Two years ago that would have ended in an outright brawl.

"Speaking of," Haley butted in, gesturing back over to the exit where the UNC players were slowly stumbling out. Most were clearly pumped from the victory but definitely wiped out after 40 minutes of playing time.

Lucas stepped out of the doorway, laughing with one of the other players, before his eyes immediately began seeking out his brother and hopefully his best friend. He found them standing off to the side and a smile stretched across his face before the site of a certain dark-haired man nearly made his blood run cold. He could only imagine how Nathan was feeling at that moment.

"Hi," Lucas greeted apprehensively, opening his arms to pick up Haley in a crushing bear hug. "How've you been, bestest?" he questioned, affectionately ruffling her hair.

Haley laughed, partly out of complete joy from seeing Luke again and partly out of relief for being distracted from Nathan's parents. Her hands flew about once Lucas set her on the floor and she began one of her famous rambles, hardly realizing that Lucas had no idea who she was talking about or what kind of events she was going on about. She finally ran out of steam and grinned up at him again, "It's really good to see you."

"Hands off the girlfriend," Nathan grumbled, when Lucas tucked her into his side for another half-hug. Haley merely rolled her eyes and kicked the air by his leg, warning him to stay away. If any of the coaching staff saw her even playfully hitting any vital part of him, she'd be in some major hot water.

"Hey, Deb," Lucas smiled, pulling away from Haley to give the blonde mother a short, friendly hug. "How is everything?"

"Just great, Lucas. Your mom wants me to tell you that she says hi and that she loves you," Deb told him, rather loudly. She smiled at the pink blush that colored his cheeks as he quickly spun around to see if anyone had overheard her. Nathan earned a glare from his older brother for fake coughing 'Momma's boy.' "I know Keith wanted to say the same, but he was a little embarrassed."

Lucas worked to fight the blush from his face before he muttered, "Thanks, Deb." He knew his mom had told her to do that on purpose and he couldn't wait until he got home for Christmas and could exact his revenge. "Dan," he greeted shortly, his back straight and his eyes confidently set on his father.

"Nice game, Lucas. Real good work in the key," Dan responded, holding a hand out towards his oldest son. Murmuring a thank you, Lucas took the hand, shaking it firmly.

"So, man, when do you get off for Christmas?" Nathan cut in, not feeling comfortable with the amount of tension between everyone. "I've got two games the first week of break. It sucks major ass."

Lucas turned his attention to his brother, grateful for the reprieve. "We've got like three days between the finals and our next game so I'll probably be home for a day or two. Drop off my laundry for Mom," he laughed as Haley rolled her eyes.

"I made Nathan do his own laundry once. He somehow let a red Jordan shirt into his whites load and dyed everything pink. Typical," she scoffed. Nathan quickly sputtered out a protest, vehemently denying the story to Deb who hardly looked as if she believed him.

Their pleasant conversation was interrupted by the coaches who were calling their own players to the respective buses. Haley immediately grabbed Lucas in another tight hug, whispering in his ear that she had been cheering for him even though Nathan told her not to. The adults said their goodbyes and faded into the background as Haley trailed Nathan to his team's bus.

"Hurry up and say bye to Nate, Haley. We promised you a ride back to the dorm," Dan reminded her politely. Haley ignored the look on Nathan's face and pushed him along with her hand. She had blown off riding back with Jenna and their friends to make sure he was okay with Dan being there; there was no chance in hell she was walking back to campus alone.

Before climbing on the bus, he bent and pecked her on the lips, sending her a charming smirk afterwards. She was still watching him disappear onto the dark bus when a voice broke into her thoughts. "Hey space cadet," Jake grinned. His bright brown eyes and genuine smile were an unfamiliar but welcome site.

"Hey," she greeted back, a different feeling of anxiousness forming in the pit of her stomach. For awhile she had forgotten the bad news she had to deliver to her good friend but now the information she held was at the forefront of her mind.

"Do you think Jenna will still be up in, like, two hours?" he questioned eagerly. No one looked forward to the team meeting after the game, particularly not after a loss, but Jake was in a special hurry to get this one over with.

Haley tried to keep the grimace from her face and Jake's current good mood let him remain oblivious to it. "Um, actually, she said she was going out tonight," she started carefully, watching for a change in expression, "She was going to meet this guy, Brandon, at Sig Nu?" She couldn't help that the last part came out sounding like a question, and his stricken expression made her wish she hadn't said it at all.

"All right, Hales, thanks," Jake muttered dejectedly. "I'll see you later then, I guess."

Before she could get out another word, he had fled up the steep stairs of the bus. With a dejected sigh, Haley turned and headed to the main area of the parking lot where the Scott's were waiting to drive her back.

"Uh oh, Scott," one of the players said loudly causing Nathan to turn his head, "Jagielski was talking to your girl. Looks like he got shot down, though."

Nathan took a quick glance up at Jake's face as he passed him in the aisle to another row of seats. The guy did look pretty devastated. Turning back to stare out the window, Nathan knew better than to confront him on it. As his roommate and teammate, he knew that Jake had a higher appreciation for privacy than most people, and talking about his problems on a bus that was relatively quiet and contemplative after a disheartening loss wasn't on either of their lists of favorite activities.

It was close to two in the morning by the time they were finished reviewing the game and everything that had gone wrong. Normally, they would have Saturday's off but, thanks to the ill planned game on Tuesday, a 'light' practice had been scheduled but pushed back to 11 to ensure that all the players rested up.

Nathan pushed the door open, his bare feet moving lightly over the cold linoleum floor. Two in the morning on Friday night might as well be early evening to most college students but thankfully his reliable girlfriend was safely tucked underneath her covers. He tiredly crawled up the short bed, noiselessly collapsing on the space between her warm body and the wall.

She rolled over anyway and smiled faintly at him. "Hey baby," Haley murmured quietly, her eyes closing again when his lips pressed against hers, his tongue briefly sneaking in.

"Where's she?" Nathan questioned, vaguely waving a hand at the empty bed on the other side of the room.

Even sleepy, Haley managed to frown, "Frat house…with a date."

"Oh," he responded, the puzzle about Haley and Jake's conversation and Jake's subsequent bad mood finally forming. "She's not staying out all night?" he frowned back in obvious disapproval. Jenna wasn't the girl to…

Haley shook her head, burrowing further into her pillow. "No, I told her to call me if she needed a ride but she called a few minutes ago, said they were on their way back." He nodded silently in response, his lips once again connecting with hers. "Practice tomorrow?"

"Eleven," he mumbled back, resting his head so close to hers that their noses brushed. "Lunch after?"

"Sure thing. Night," her voice dropped off as they both quickly drifted asleep. Their legs tangled and his hand rested strategically on her backside in case she felt the need to roll over and out of bed, which she almost did when Jenna unexpectedly stumbled in minutes later.


	15. Anniversary

"Promise ring?"

"She doesn't like them."

"What?"

"She doesn't like them. Her brother, Robbie, bought one for his girlfriend, Alex, and she thought it was corny. She doesn't like them."

"Earrings?"

"Doesn't really wear them. She says…never mind."

"What? Anything would be helpful at this point."

"She stopped wearing earrings because I touch her ears a lot and accidentally pull on them some, I guess. I don't know…but she doesn't wear them a lot anymore."

"You're impossible. Necklace?"

"What's with the jewelry?"

"I don't trust you not to screw up anything else. What did you get her in the past?"

"For our six month I took her back to where we had our first date and then took her stargazing on my Dad's boat. The ye—"

"Six months? And 'stargazing'?"

"Six months was a big deal for me…us. And stargazing without the quotation marks. For the year I took her to a Sheryl Crow concert in Raleigh. Just about made my ears bleed but I did it. Then it was stargazing with the quotation marks."

"Good to know. Well you better think fast cause her class is over in ten minutes."

"You've been living with her for nearly four months. Shouldn't you know about this stuff?" Nathan blew out, collapsing onto Haley's bed. He ignored the disbelieving look and rolled eyes Jenna sent him as he grabbed for Mr. Waffles.

The door burst open and a frantic and weighed down Haley stumbled through it. "Hey, Jen, have you seen…?" Her eyes moved to her bed, or more accurately, the pair of Jordan's dangling off the edge that she very nearly slammed the door into. "Never mind, Jenna, can you give us a—?"

"In other words get out," the blonde provided good-naturedly. "You're just lucky I have a hot brooding guitarist/basketball player to visit when you two sexile me," Jenna quipped as she slipped out the door, grateful to be away from couples drama. She had just been an innocent bystander when Nathan burst into their room in a similar fashion as Haley, confused and in desperate need of advice, and lots of it.

"Class ended early," Haley answered the unspoken question. She kicked off her shoes and quickly climbed into her bed with him, giggling as his hands lifted her to practically lie on top of him. "And sexiled? What does that mean, person of the male gender?"

"When the roommate gets kicked out in favor of sex," Nathan explained automatically, watching the blush climb his girlfriend's cheeks. "Aw, Hales, at least everyone knows it's just me. Can't say that for some of the other girls that live here."

"Okay, don't need to know," Haley shushed him, not wanting to have bad impressions of her fellow dormmates. "Anyway, focus…on the real reason I kicked Jenna out."

"You mean we're not having sex?" Nathan questioned innocently. "Way to crush my hopes, Hales," he joked even as she poked his side sharply. He instinctively flinched away causing her to chuckle a bit before sobering up again. "What'd you want to talk about?" he mumbled, sensing the seriousness in her eyes.

"Um, you know how our anniversary's in two weeks?" she questioned nonchalantly, biting down on her lower lip. God, Nathan really hoped she couldn't read the grimace that had to be written all over his face. He nodded hesitantly in response, as if there wasn't enough pressure on that one. "Well, I kind of have this presentation in lab due the next day. And it's kind of a big deal."

His eyebrows shot into orbit. "Our two year anniversary is kind of a big deal! Haley!" Nathan clamped his jaw shut, worried he'd bust the roof off the building with the volume of his voice. "You've got to be kidding me!" he blew out, frustrated and trying to wiggle out from underneath his girlfriend's tight grasp. Sure he didn't have anything special planned so far but he had assumed that she wouldn't have any other plans on the date.

Haley's lips were a grim line as she studied her squirming boyfriend. "I know that and it means a lot to me too, but this is the final presentation and it's a group project. I can't just blow them off."

"You wouldn't be blowing them off. It's two years, Hales! Do you know how lo—" Nathan cut himself off abruptly, ignoring her suspicious gaze. He flushed heavily under her eyes though. It became painfully clear to him how many times she could have dumped his ass for someone smarter, less complicated, better looking, the list could go on. His playboy ways had been curbed viciously the moment they had started dating but the jealous streak in him grew to a mile wide. Any guy within a hundred feet of Haley had become a potential suitor and a potentially better boyfriend in his eyes.

"What were you saying?" Haley questioned haltingly, reading his troubled gaze. His question had ended long before she could even try to predict his train of thought.

Nathan shook his head furiously. "Nothing," he finally answered, smiling reassuringly. No need to remind her of how long she had been putting up with his miserable ass. "I don't—can't you just work on it before? I mean, you weren't going to put it off till the night before, were you?"

"Well, no," Haley agreed, shaking her head, "but it might take us till then to finish it and then we'll have to practice the presentation. I know it's a really big thing to ask, Nathan, but I'm just really paranoid about my grade and I don't want to rule Sunday out as an option to work. Just in case we need that day."

This was so freaking unbelievable! Nathan pinched his eyes shut tight, already knowing that he was going to cave in to her desperate pleas. She'd been working hard on the class all semester and he wasn't going to make her sacrifice her grade just because he was being…clingy. Being completely whipped by the girlfriend sometimes wasn't such a great thing. "Fine," he bit out, miffed at his own lack of spine. "Are we ever going to celebrate the damned date?"

"Yes," Haley giggled, slightly pleased she had won the argument with very little persuading. "I was thinking the second week of break. We'll both be done with finals and you have some time off after your first week of games."

Nathan's brow furrowed irritably. "You mean when we're in Tree Hill? When everyone else is around and our families are being…families and people will be asking us about college every three seconds? You think we're going to have time to celebrate then?"

"We'll make time," Haley promised, pressing her lips to his pouting ones. "I swear," she gave him a brilliant smile before sliding off the bed. "But, dear boyfriend, I have some homework to attend to and so do you. Come get me for dinner?" she asked, trying to make sure that he wasn't to put off by the change in plans.

Nathan merely grunted at her as he left the room, stalking down the hallway and through the main lounge to his own. The moment he had passed through the lounge, Jenna ran back towards the girls' wing. Either his grumpy mood was written all over his face or…well, he was definitely grumpy. He would be for weeks. He knew he had to get over it but grumpy would have to do for now. Silently, he cursed the day Haley James made him so damn sensitive and concerned with things like freaking anniversaries.

***

"So, how'd it go?" came the probing question the second the door sprung open. Haley swirled around in her desk chair with a large grin on her face and Jenna laughed. "I'm guessing good?"

"Maybe I should switch my major to Theater," Haley contemplated, the smile stretching her cheeks. "Because I nailed that, hands down. He's going to be such a grump for the next two weeks though. I kind of feel bad for the team…and Jake…and people in general. Maybe I should have waited till later to tell him."

"Nah," Jenna quickly brushed off. "He was in here asking about what to do for the anniversary. A few more days and he definitely would have made plans," she spoke knowingly. "What I want to know is how a college student like yourself afforded this nice little weekend getaway?" Jenna asked, referring to the trip to the Biltmore Estate that Haley was keeping secret from Nathan.

"Oh my neighbor, Marion, has some connections. She's also really fond of Nathan for some odd reason. Don't give me that look," Haley warned knowingly, "it's the exact same look my mother gives me."

"Well, we are both wonderful, intelligent women, wouldn't you agree?" Jenna questioned cheekily, ignoring the death glare being sent her way. "And how are you going to get there? Isn't it like a two hour drive?"

Haley just shrugged, "I'll have to drive his Mustang, I guess, with Nathan blindfolded in the passenger seat. God he's going to have an absolute panic attack over his little baby." Haley responded to Jenna's probing look with one of her own. "He lets me drive it," she defended quickly, "or at least he says he does and then insists on doing it himself. He says I don't have the right touch. You'd think the thing was an actual animal the way he treats it," she muttered sarcastically.

"Well, maybe you could give him a horse tranquilizer. I mean it'd probably knock him out for more than just the drive there but oh well right? Sacrifices have to be made," Jenna joked, moving to her own desk as Haley sent her a dirty look. "Let's not forget the irony there. Mustang, horse tranquilizer?" she raised her eyebrows, enticing her roommate to appreciate her wit.

"How was the talk with Brandon?" Haley shot back, half in retaliation, half out of curiosity.

Jenna merely rolled her eyes and muttered, "Don't ask but rest assured that's over." Brandon had turned out to be…not really an ass but definitely not what Jenna had thought he'd be so she decided to break it off. Haley had let Jake know but he seemed to have retreated back into his shell and she wasn't quite sure when he'd be coming out again. Needless to say, their whole dance was starting to frustrate her, and Nathan who constantly had to listen to her griping.

***

"Haley what are we doing here? I thought we were going for dinner," Nathan questioned once he recognized his surroundings. He'd been there once as a child when his mom thought it'd be fun to drag him around historical landmarks and the like. "Shit, we're two hours from campus! I can't believe…I've got practice in the morning!"

"No, you don't," Haley contended a definite warning tone in her voice. "I talked to your coach and he said tomorrow he was just handing out workout schedules for the rest of break and cancelling the rest of practice due to finals."

Nathan just simply gaped at her, still wondering what they were doing parked in front of the large mansion. When she'd hopped in his driver seat and insisted on blindfolding him, he'd thought she'd planned a nice dinner for them. This definitely wasn't on his list of expectations. "That's great, Hales, but why are we here?"

Glancing away from the grandiose building, Haley sucked in a deep breath before cutting her eyes shyly his way. "We're spending the weekend here, you know, for our anniversary. I got us a room and everything. Well, actually, that's a pretty funny story that you should hear sometime, maybe not now. Now we need to go check-in. I mean, are we checking in? Are you really pissed I basically kidnapped you? Not to mention, drove your precious car around for two hours. Nathan?"

Nathan bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. "Yeah, Hales, I'm really pissed you stole me away for a weekend to lock me in a room and have your way with me," he deadpanned, watching her worriedly wring her hands.

"Well, I don't know, Nathan," Haley threw her hands up in the air. "You're the one who's planned all the big, romantic gestures in the past. I don't know how this works."

"Basically, as long as you promise me sex and lots of it, I don't really give a crap about the rest," he smirked as she shot him a dirty look. "What? I love you for going through all this trouble but you didn't think I was really mad about our anniversary? I knew you would have made it up to me."

"And you know I wasn't ever planning on missing our anniversary," Haley countered with a raised eyebrow, not letting her boyfriend's innuendos get to her. "You're the dope who thought I was going to leave my presentation for the last minute.

His expression soured and he glared at her. "I'm not a dope and I didn't think you were leaving it to the last minute. I even called you out and said that you would never. And you didn't have to blindfold me," he muttered, annoyed. Nathan had pestered her for the past hour and a half to take off his blindfold but she claimed that she'd get lost or worse wreck his car if he did anything to distract her and he definitely didn't want that. So the blindfold had stayed and his irritation had grown.

"You would have figured it out," Haley protested, folding a leg underneath her so that she could turn in the seat. "And there's no point in a surprise if you figure it out. And besides, I didn't hurt your precious baby, did I?" she smugly questioned, patting the steering wheel fondly.

"Whatever, you still didn't have to do all…this. Making me think we'd miss our anniversary was pretty shitty," Nathan couldn't help but mumble. He'd have to cancel those flowers he'd ordered considering they wouldn't be on campus this weekend. At that thought, he immediately brightened, forgetting all about his bruised ego.

Haley must have read his thoughts because she turned to him with a determined look on her face. "If all we're going to do is sit here and whine at each other, then I'll get out of the car and we can switch seats and you can drive us back to school. Otherwise, can we please go check in and get this show on the road?"

Nathan shot a knowing smirk at her but she no longer seemed to be paying attention to him. "I plan this weekend, away from all your basketball and all our drunk friends and Jake-and-Jenna drama and all you can do is bitch about how mean it was for me to trick you," she ranted to herself, rolling her eyes sporadically.

"Hales?" Nathan finally asked once her tirade was over. "Let's go."

"Thank you!" she threw her hands up in the air before hastily unbuckling her seatbelt and shoving open the car door.

Nathan's pace definitely outmatched hers but he slowed when he realized that the reservations would be in her name. As soon as they entered the elaborate building, he quickly whispered to her, "Uh, babe, how much is this co…?"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Haley brushed him off, heading for the Check In desk. "Marion has some connections. Anyway, it's my turn to do something nice for you."

He followed her up to the desk but she hurriedly shooed him away. Nathan frowned slightly before deciding he'd just have to sneak a peak at the bill when they checked out. Haley bounced back over to him with keys in hand before the older man managed to call her back. "Uh, miss, are there any bags we could take up for you?" She shot the man a bright smile before telling him that they could take care of it themselves and dragging Nathan off to the elevators.

"Hales, where are our bags?" Nathan asked as they were waiting for the elevator, her leaned against his chest with his arms wrapped around her waist.

Haley titled her head back and gave him a perfect imitation of his own smirk. "We don't have any."

Grinning happily at her, Nathan chuckled an "I love you" before bending his mouth to hers. "But we might need that blindfold." Her gasp of surprise was cut off when he pulled her into the perfectly timed, open elevator.

***

"Hey, man," Nathan reached out and shook Robbie's firm grip, setting Haley's suitcase on the sidewalk next to the SUV. "How was the drive?" he questioned politely as Robbie shifted some things around in the trunk, making room for Haley's stuff. Since he had practice and games for the next week and a half, Robbie had to come pick up Haley and drive them home to Tree Hill.

"Not too bad, no traffic," the older James responded distracted. "Is that all she's bringing?" he asked confused.

Nathan quickly shook his head, "Nope, she's got another bag and her backpack…but I think that's all. How's Alex?" He easily recalled Robbie's girlfriend who had come to visit for the weekend and watch the game when Wake had played UVA.

Robbie's answer to the question was cut off when they both heard Haley's squeal from the entrance of the dorm. Nathan smirked seeing the black duffel bag that was quickly dropped to the ground when she nearly tackled her older brother to the ground. Robbie was the youngest James brother and definitely Haley's favorite.

"You all set to go?" Robbie asked as he unceremoniously shoved Haley's bag into the trunk. "Actually, let me get in the car while you two do your thing…" he shuddered and was quick run around the car and jump in the driver's seat.

"What are you smirking at?" Haley narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her boyfriend, who looked rather content with himself.

Shrugging nonchalantly, he couldn't bite off the grin on his face, "Nothing, just your bag." Haley hadn't exactly been telling the truth on their little weekend trip. She had packed that same bag with their hygiene supplies and a few sets of clothes, including a fancier option that allowed him to take her out for a nice dinner.

"You're a perv," she accused, a smile on her face as her arms reached around his neck. "But I'm going to miss you anyway."

"I'll miss you too," he murmured lowly against her lips. "Sorry I have to stay here. These ten days are going to suck."

"Aww, it's okay. You'll be home for Christmas; that's what matters," she gave him a slight smile and patted his chest lightly. "Besides you're going to be so busy, you won't have time to miss me. I'm the one who gets mope around Tree Hill and get yelled at by Brooke and Peyton, not to mention all the shopping."

"Well, pick something out with me in mind," he smirked again seeing her predictable blush. "Think of it as a little 'Welcome Home' present."

"Again, perv," Haley chastised, "But I'll probably think of something nice for when you get back," she promised, popping up on her tiptoes to give another, longer kiss. "Okay, I should get going before Rob gets all older brother-like. Plus, I promised Brooke I'd have dinner with her tonight."

Nathan gave her a tight smile before squeezing her tighter against him. "All right then, but I will miss you. I'm never not missing you."

She couldn't help but lean up for one more kiss. "I'll make sure to spend lots of time with everyone else so I don't have time to miss you…and so they'll get off our backs when you're home," Haley smirked mischievously. "Love you," she smiled encouragingly while climbing into the passenger side.

"Love you, too," he mumbled sadly, watching as the car drove out of the parking lot, Haley turned around in the front seat to wave at him.aleyH


	16. Separation Anxiety

It had almost been a physical fight with her parents to get out of the house. The moment she and Robbie pulled up onto the driveway they were there jokingly smothering her with kisses and hugs as Rob simply rolled his eyes and unloaded her bags from the car. Half an hour later she was still trying to backpedal out of the house using the newly arrived and confused Taylor as a shield. This was the last time ever she promised Brooke dinner on the night she got back.

"Sorry, sorry I'm late," she hurriedly apologized with a quick glance over at the brunette, not bothering to stop as she practically slid into the kitchen looking for Karen.

"Haley!" Karen smiled widely, embracing her surrogate daughter in a tight hug. "Oh, it's so good to see you. The town's been so quiet without all you kids around. Brooke's been back but she hasn't had anyone to stir up trouble with. Of course, she's been a little distracted."

Haley shot Karen a confused look when the older woman winked and smiled at her. "Go back out there and say 'hi' to the poor girl. She's been bouncing off the walls waiting for you to get here." She could hardly get in another word before being shooed out of the workspace and back out into the dining area.

"Evan?" she questioned, spying the familiar male figure sitting next to Brooke at the table. "What are you doing here?"

Brooke rolled her eyes, hustling to her feet and over to Haley. "That wasn't rude at all, Tutor Girl. Evan's visiting," she answered with a pointed look, "And thank you for ignoring me twice in a row."

"Sorry," Haley shrugged her shoulders in apology before tightening her arms around Brooke's shoulders. "Karen says you've been bored."

They moved back over to the table, Evan jumping up to pull out Haley's chair and give her a quick hug. "A little, but at least I've had Evan to show around town," Brooke smiled sweetly his way and Haley took in the interactions with barely restrained curiosity. She knew they'd broken up sometime in early December but there he was, sitting in their hometown, in the flesh.

"Probably took you all of twenty minutes," Haley joked, the three of them laughing together. "What brings you to Tree Hill, Evan?"

"Well, my parents thought we'd be going to a bowl game this year and booked a cruise for this week. We're obviously not going to a bowl so instead of going home to an empty house, Brooke invited me to Tree Hill," he shrugged calmly, though Haley sensed a note of sadness in his voice with the mention of his parents.

"That's really sweet of her. Brooke's such a sweet girl," Haley beamed at Brooke, the other girl catching the backhanded remark easily and scowling lightly. "Anyway, yeah, I'm glad she invited you. You should really meet the rest of the gang when they finally get here."

"That reminds me. Skills and Bev were going to come tonight but they're having dinner with Bevin's parents. Mouth said he's going to stop at Wake to catch Nathan's next game and P. Sawyer's flight is iced in so she won't be here until Friday," Brooke quickly informed Haley. "So you probably won't be able to see Nathan again and you might miss Peyton," she turned to Evan, giving him a small smile.

"Oh, and Tim," Haley interjected, "He's going snowboarding with his cousins in California so he won't be back until after Christmas."

Brooke merely rolled her eyes, "Well, missing Dim isn't exactly a bad thing. And you talk to Tim?"

"He sends postcards," Haley shrugged, "Nathan's normally too lazy to read them so I do and then give him the highlights, mostly about driving to California and hanging out with his cousins. I think they might come back with him."

"Fun," the brunette drew out dryly, rolling her eyes again as Evan looked on in confusion. "Don't worry, Ev, you're better off not knowing."

Haley briefly filled Evan in on the complete…uniqueness that was Tim Smith. Obviously Brooke had failed to mention him in her high school stories. They stayed talking until the Cafe had closed and Karen had joined in their conversation as Haley helped her clean up for the night.

***

Using the spare key under the mat, she quietly let herself in the house, resisting the urge to glance around her and look even more suspicious. There was no one home but she tiptoed towards the stairs anyway, neglecting to turn on any lights.

"Whatcha doing?"

The voice startled her and she let out a strangled scream, turning around and jumping at the same time. A light suddenly flickered on and Haley immediately reached out a hand and swatted the person in front of her.

"Damn it, Cooper. You scared the crap out of me," she breathed out, glaring at his laughing figure leaned up against the hallway.

"Obviously," he deadpanned, "We should probably go make sure the neighbors don't call the cops. Oh well, I bet they're used to all the screaming and yelling coming from this house." He shrugged nonchalantly, taking a bite of the apple she hadn't noticed was in his hand. "What are you doing sneaking around, Hales?"

She rolled her eyes as he reached out and ruffled her hair. "Stop it, Coop. I'm just getting something from Nathan's room. What are you doing in Tree Hill, especially at Dan's?"

Cooper grinned again, "Big Bad Dan Scott asked me to housesit. Actually he asked Deb to pick up his mail but she's been a little busy so I decided to help her out. And it's Christmas, Haley. Once I heard Karen was cooking this year, well, not even Dan could keep me away."

Haley had to resist grinning at him. "Obviously," she mocked back. "Where's Jamie?"

"Her mom's got her," Cooper frowned, his good mood immediately souring. "I'm going to go pick her up for Christmas dinner, though. You going to show?"

She nodded at him, a hand on the stair rail as she began up the stairs. "Of course, Nathan can't handle you loonies on his own."

"Who you calling a loony?" he scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Have you not met your family, James? Go get Nathan's crap," Cooper waved her away uselessly as she was already on the second floor and heading down the hallway.

Haley found him again in the kitchen, hovering over the stack of mail he must have just picked up. "Don't be a snoop, Coop," she rhymed, grinning when he gave her a sideways glare.

"Like you've never been curious about the types of magazines Danny Boy reads," Cooper shot back. "I don't see him as a Playboy subscriber but—"

"Oh, ew, Cooper," Haley protested, her nose automatically scrunching up. "Are you trying to get me to bleach my brain? That's completely disgusting. Why do you even think about those things?"

Cooper shrugged lightly. "Please, you have to know that every guy has at one point or another kept a Playboy under his bed." Watching her look of discomfort grow, he chuckled quietly. "Fine, I'll drop it. What's with the sweatshirt? You know that's not even close to fitting you, right?"

"Obviously," she rolled her eyes. "I just—"

"If he wasn't my nephew, you two would honestly make me gag," Cooper cut in, "Let me guess: it smells like Nathan?"

Haley rolled her eyes but gave a light shrug of her shoulders. "I am a girl, Coop. Occasionally, I get in these moods where I miss the boyfriend I practically live with while in college," she snapped back, following him out as he turned out the lights.

"If I were anything like you two, one of my engagements might've worked out," he threw out casually, shutting and locking the door behind them. As he slid the key back under the mat, Haley walked towards her mom's car, just then noticing an unfamiliar vehicle parked at the curb. "I'll see you next week, Haley."

"Sure thing, Cooper. Tell Jamie I said hi and I can't wait to see her," Haley waved him off. Slowly, she climbed into the car, hugging Nathan's sweatshirt to her. She took a deep breath and sighed. Hopefully, this would ease her nights until Monday.

***

"Nate! Nate!"

He heard a quiet, insistent whisper coming from the sidelines as he fell into line for warm-up practices. Quickly, Nathan turned towards his coach who was deep in conversation with an assistant coach before looking around in confusion. A waving hand caught his eye and he spotted Mouth sitting with the rest of the media correspondents.

Nathan immediately offered a smile and a quick wave. When Haley told him Mouth would be coming to the Vanderbilt game, he hadn't expected the shorter guy to be sitting right on the sidelines. An odd sense of deja vu struck him, reminding him of old high school games even though Mouth wasn't announcing.

Before he could dwell any longer on it or his old friend, the coach called them over to the bench and the lights dimmed. He played well, scoring a season high of 20 points, and they had won the game in a difficult overtime. The end of it kind of sucked when he glanced toward the bottom left of the student section and realized, just like three days ago, that Haley wasn't there.

Coming out of the locker room, he was hardly surprised to see Mouth slouched across the hall, looking dead tired. "Hey, Mouth," Nathan shook his shoulder lightly, startling him out of his nap.

Mouth jumped up and they shared a quick guy hug before they started walking along toward the exit. "Great game," he admitted a little hesitantly, obviously torn between loyalty to his friend and to his university.

"Thanks," Nathan beamed proudly. "Season high today," he boasted as if Mouth didn't already know, "What were you doing on the sidelines?"

"Oh, I write for the student newspaper. I told them I planned on stopping by the game and the sports editor got me a pass. Pretty cool, huh?" he tapped the laminated pass still hanging around his neck and grinned. "When you getting back? Brooke said Haley's been kind of a drag to be around, not that it's stopped her and Peyton from dragging her everywhere with them."

Nathan grinned back, remembering more than one conversation when Haley sounded completely exhausted, almost as if she had just run a marathon. And his girl didn't do sports. "She's been whining about being dragged everywhere, too. Um, I've got one more game Sunday afternoon. I don't know if I'll drive back after or wait till Monday morning."

"Sunday afternoon game?" Mouth questioned with a small rise of his eyebrows.

"Yeah, it's a reschedule," he grimaced. "I told Hales I'd be back Monday but I'm thinking of surprising her."

"My lips are sealed," Mouth promised as they stepped outside to the waiting buses. "All right, so I'll see you in a couple days?" he asked, shaking hands with the basketball player.

"Yeah, yeah, Christmas party at my house if you can make it," Nathan reminded him, getting in line with the other players to climb on the bus.

Nathan waved at Mouth one more time from his window seat. Sighing heavily, he slouched down. It was nice of him to stop by for the game but he really didn't need the reminder that Mouth would be home in four short hours and he'd be stuck here, four long hours away from his girlfriend.

***

"Haley! Haley! Take out the trash!"

Rolling her eyes, she clumsily fell out of her bed. The book she'd been reading dropped down to the floor carelessly and Haley poked her head out the door to be met with more of Taylor's screaming. Sometimes she really did hate her siblings.

"Make Robbie do it!" she yelled back, shutting the door behind her.

It was a second after she'd settled back in her bed that Taylor burst into her room, scowling heavily with her hands on her hips. "No, you see, baby sister, Robbie mowed the lawn yesterday and I've been washing dishes all week so it's your turn to pitch in. I get that you're all mopey and depressed about being away from your boyfriend for ten freaking days but get off your ass! I never thought I'd be lecturing _you_ about responsibility."

Taylor whirled around and out her door, blonde hair flying everywhere. Reluctantly, Haley rolled off her bed once more and shuffled her way downstairs, ignoring her mother, who was smiling amusedly at her.

"Garbage cans are out front," Jimmy called from the living room as Haley was forcefully tying the bag closed.

Muttering all the way to the door, Haley kicked at the pavement and made her way over to the plastic bins. She lifted the lid and jammed the bag into the already full container, brushing her hands off while walking back up the sidewalk.

"Uh, hello?"

The front door was halfway open before the voice startled her out of her reverie and she noticed the car parked in their driveway. Without even thinking, she turned around and ran into Nathan's waiting arms, a pout clearly visible on his face. She mimicked the pout before laughing and crushing her lips to his.

"You smell like trash," Nathan protested teasingly, turning them around and pressing her against the side of the car.

"Nuh-uh, I smell like you," she replied, quickly slanting her lips over his again.

His forehead scrunched up in confusion before he finally registered the feeling of the material he was gripping. "Is this my sweatshirt?"

"God, will you shut up and make out already?"

"How come when I tell you to shut up I get yelled at but it's okay for you to say it to me? I think that's called being hypocritical, Haley."

"Hypocritical? You want hypocritical? How about all the times you whine about me not being into PDA and now we're sitting here in the dark, all alone, and arguing?"

"Not all alone, Haley-bub," Lydia corrected from the doorway. "Jimmy, you can put the garden hose away. I think they killed their own mood."

Nathan spun around reflexively, letting Haley slide down the side of the car without even realizing it. With an open expression of shock, Haley gaped at her mother and then her father, who soon emerged from the side of the house, a look of obvious disappointment on his face. Finally, she turned and buried her face in Nathan's shirt, ignoring his chuckling.

"What's your mom talking about, Hales? Arguing with you always gets me hot."

"Leave, just leave," Haley muttered, pushing him towards the driver's door. "Come back tomorrow afternoon and we'll pretend you just got here…wait, what are you even doing here?" Suddenly, she remembered that she was supposed to have one more night of wallowing in her own self-pity and utter ridiculousness.

"Surprise?"


	17. New Year's

"Where are the girls?" Nathan questioned curiously, leaning against the counter next to his brother. An impromptu New Year's Eve party had somehow formed in Karen's Cafe when the amount of friends and family gathered couldn't fit in just one room in one house. They were both sipping on Cokes, which, thanks to some help from Jimmy, had a little something extra in them. "It's like 11:57."

"You mean where's Haley?" Lucas corrected quickly, scanning the crowd and finding no sign of his petite best friend. "Because you'd pop a blood vessel if someone tries to kiss her in the next three minutes."

"Yo, Nate! Haley's talking to some guy. He's like all over her," Tim reported breathlessly with wide eyes. It had been a long time since he'd last seen someone have the balls to flirt with Haley James.

"Thanks, Tim," both Scott brothers responded at the same time, both sounding exasperated and not in the least grateful.

Nathan shrugged unapologetically, setting his drink on the counter and beginning to move through the crowd. Lydia had said something earlier about having a late Christmas surprise for her, and he assumed that's where she had been for the last half hour. One of her neighbors had been talking his ear off about the current basketball season, and without Haley around, he hadn't had a good excuse to escape the older man.

He spotted her just by the door, standing with Junk and Mouth and some other guy he just didn't recognize. The guy wasn't any of her brothers, brother-in-law, future brother-in-law, or male cousins he had met.

Slowly, he approached, catching first Junk's and then Mouth's eyes. Something must have set them off because they immediately pardoned themselves, practically running into each other to get away. If his sights weren't intently set on his girlfriend, Nathan probably would have found the accident funny.

Around him, people were concentrating on the TVs above the counter, watching the ball begin to descend and starting their countdowns. He frowned heavily, as the guy started to lean down towards her. Thankfully, he could see Haley's entire body cringe in response, and without a second thought, he grabbed her by the elbow and sharply pulled her into his chest.

She met his chest with a soft 'oomph' and he was kissing the life out of her so quickly that he barely caught the flash of surprise in her eyes.

Immediately, Haley melted into him, her hands briefly coming up to rub against his chest before slipping around his neck. Nathan smiled against her lips, tugging her closer, and slowing down the kiss considerably. They were still pressed together, Haley's lips continually pecking his, when a loud throat clear broke them apart.

Cooper gave them a mock disapproving glare, gesturing down to Jamie, who had her hands covering her eyes and was letting out a loud 'eww, gross.' Nathan chuckled quietly, pulling Haley flush against his side, before realizing that they also had the attention of most of the room. "Oh god," he briefly heard Haley mutter before burying her face in his shirt.

"That was hot, little sister," Taylor winked lecherously at them and Nathan had to resist the urge to tell her to shove it. "And New Year's passed like five minutes ago, guys."

Haley raised her head long enough to sweetly ask Jamie to cover her little ears and then tell her big sister where to go. Nathan laughed loudly, watching the look of shock and then pride pass across Taylor's face, before he dragged Haley with him to the corner booth, ignoring their obviously amused friends and family.

"Nathan, wait!" Haley protested, tugging on the hand that was intertwined with hers and determinedly pulling her to the booth. He didn't stop until he was seated and she'd been hauled into his lap and against his lips. "Wait, wait," she breathed out, her hands on his shoulders to create distance.

He arched an eyebrow, obviously not amused by the interruption, and she shot him a glare. "I was going to introduce you to someone. But my caveman of a boyfriend decided to drag me away before I could get a single word in."

Grimacing at her huffing and puffing, Nathan sighed, "I'm sorry, honey. What can I do for you?" His overly sugary tone did not go unnoticed and he grimaced again at her glaring. "Fine, seriously, what's up?"

"I want you to meet TJ. He was my next door neighbor growing up but he moved at the beginning of high school. All of the guys are really close to him, too," Haley rushed out in one breath. "I have to warn you he doesn't like you all too much—considering the way you and Luke used to be."

Nathan rolled his eyes heavily, his arms tightening around her waist. "I don't want to meet him then. I'm sick and tired of people giving me shit for something that ended three years ago and was mainly my dad's fault anyway."

Haley sighed back, her fingertips lightly smoothing over the lines creasing his forehead. "I'm dead serious, Hales. I went through this with your brothers and I was okay with that because they're your family and I expected it. But I'm not going to sit there and get judged by some guy you haven't really been friends with since you were thirteen. That's bullshit."

Her mouth opened to respond and he cut her off with a quick shake of his head. "Hey, if you were still such good friends with him, I would have heard about him sometime in the past two years. I do listen to you."

"I know, I swear I know you do," Haley speedily promised, still in slight awe of the way he'd read her mind. "You listen to me more than anyone else and I love you for it. So will you please just come over and say 'hi' and shake his hand? Can you just be polite? For me and for my mom?"

Nathan merely gave her a look saying, "What's Lydia got to do with this?" And Haley smiled tightly in reply, "TJ has a female cousin about our age. My mom and her mom used to always compare us, trying to see who had the more perfect daughter. Actually, it wasn't even about perfection, just about competition. You know my mom; she's such a braggart. She'll even admit how many times they've bailed Taylor out of jail if it means besting someone else's wild child."

"I don't know," Nathan replied, doubtfully, and Haley's hopeful expression dropped. "You're pretty perfect to me." Her immediate response was to slap his shoulder and roll her eyes before trying to move out of his lap and onto her own two feet. "Perfect for me. Is that better?" Nathan tried again, chuckling at Haley's failed attempts to not blush.

"Yeah, I'm small enough so that your massive ego can't crush me," she joked back, lightly rapping her knuckles on his forehead. "But seriously, Mom's been bragging about my "perfect" boyfriend so let's get moving, hotshot," she climbed out of his lap and made it to her own two feet, much to his displeasure.

"By the way, what was your New Year's Resolution? Or did you forget to come up with any?" Haley asked, remembering the last week when he'd scoffed in response and told her he had to get to practice.

"To tell and show you exactly how much I love you and how wonderful you are."

"One: that is such a line. Two: that cannot be your resolution because mine was to stop blushing. And you, mister, are the sole reason I have a blushing problem. Three: you already told Lucas it had something to do with your Playstation and an NBA Live tournament with the guys in the dorm."

"One," he mimicked clearly, ignoring her pout, "your blush is freaking sexy. Two: it's not a problem if it's a good thing so don't you dare try to stop. And three: so what if it does?"

"Calling me sexy in a room full of our closest friends and family is not helping the blushing thing, Nathan," Haley mumbled under her breath, dragging her feet as he laughed and pulled her by the hand towards their group of friends.

"Well, that was definitely a quickie," Brooke laughed, ignoring the equally paled expressions of both Lucas and TJ. "What?! Your elbows are bony, girl" she complained, when Peyton not so subtly elbowed her side. "Oh, come on, everyone knows they're doing it. Even Little J probably has sneaking suspicions. I doubt she understands bu—"

"Brooke, just stop, please," Haley pleaded, as even Nathan grew uncomfortable with the topic of sex and his little cousin. "Just…you don't honestly talk that way around her, do you?" she questioned worriedly, obvious panic in her expression.

"Oh god, no. I'm barely around her because, to be honest, she kind of freaks me out. Little kid germs and all that nasty stuff," Brooke shuddered visibly and the rest of the group shared a small laugh at her expense.

"Alright, finally," Haley sighed exaggeratedly. "Nathan Scott, TJ Kennedy. TJ, Nathan," she introduced, a small smile escaping when they didn't try to crush each other's hand in their quick handshake. "TJ's parents just retired and moved back down here."

TJ nodded in agreement. "Yeah, they even tried to buy the same house. But, uh, Marion, I think," he gestured over to where she was standing with Lydia, "refused to give it up."

"Wow, your parents are retired already?" Peyton questioned, an incredulous look on her face as she obviously thought of her father. "Aren't they a little young?"

"Not really, all my other siblings have kids of their own already. They're kind of getting up there in age. I guess it's just that I'm the youngest, like Hales," TJ smiled at her and Nathan's grip around her waist tightened.

He bit his tongue, trying not to seem petulant and mention that he, too, was the youngest. "So what's TJ stand for?" Nathan asked, trying to be as polite as Haley insisted he could be. Immediately, the group started laughing, and he pursed his lips, not liking the rare occasion when he felt left out.

Brooke let out a sultry laugh, flashing a bright smile TJ's way. "I just asked that a minute ago, Nate. And if I didn't get an answer, you sure as hell aren't getting one," she stated confidently. "Then again, maybe he likes 'em tall and blonde. Try your luck, Peyt," Brooke encouraged, hip-checking the firmly refusing Peyton.

"J's for Joseph. That's his pop's name," Skills cut in quickly much to Peyton's delight. "And the T? He ain't ever tell anyone but Haley what that one meant."

Nathan's hand automatically tightened around Haley's. He was the only one she was supposed to share secrets with.

"Don't you dare, Hales," TJ warned playfully. "I told you that in sandbox confidence, and nothing breaks a double pinky-swear."

"I'd be careful, TJ. She announced my middle name to our entire class once," Lucas groused, shooting glares all around as they responded with 'oh yeah's' and 'that was funny's' instead of the sympathy he'd been expecting.

Haley shrugged unapologetically. "It's not my fault. Teacher asks a question; I answer. It's called conditioning, guys," she defended, "And it's not like I've ever repeated it again, Lucas, so stop your complaining."

"Works with me, too. I ask; she answers," Nathan boasted, his arm wrapping around her shoulders and hugging her back against his chest. Haley rolled her eyes even as her hands came up to affectionately grip his forearm. She absentmindedly bent to kiss the back of his hand before sagging tiredly into his body.

"Don't worry, TJ. Your secret's safe with me," she was quick to insist, more than aware of the vein that was suddenly popping out of Nathan's arm. She tilted her head up and popped onto her tiptoes to peck him on the cheek, taking the moment to whisper quietly in his ear. "I'll tell you later if you really want."

Nathan's grin was quick but noticeable. Now that's the way it should be.

"I saw that," TJ complained and Nathan's expression turned to that of annoyance.

This was not how he expected to start his New Year. Between their two families, Haley's which was well into the double digits without even being extended and his which only consisted of his parents and Coop but could give him a headache worse than Haley's, they hadn't had much, if any, time alone. His perfect New Year's had them sneaking out right about now to either the vacant beach house or the café rooftop. Rumor had it, Karen had yet to take down the mini golf course, which made for more than one dark corner meant for illicit doings.

"Okay, drop it before I tell everyone right now," Haley threatened lightly. Being so absolutely melted into Nathan, she had sensed the exact moment he tensed up even more and was quick to intervene. Her boyfriend sure could be a jealous asshole and she was determined not to let that show tonight.

"Hey, I think Mr. Green was looking for you earlier, Nathan. Did you have a chance to talk to him?" Haley questioned innocently as she began to lead him from their group. Nathan stared at her as if she were crazy; the man had talked his ear off for the better part of an hour. "Sorry, guys, he's kind of old and can definitely use the conversation. It'd be rude not to."

Nathan stumbled after her when she tugged him towards the counter, shooting a dirty glare at him when he pulled back on her hand. "You're obviously not going to play nice tonight so I figured it'd be better to just get you away from TJ."

"Good plan," he mumbled, finally moving along with her.

***

"Guys, guys, party at my place!" Tim divulged excitedly in a quick whisper, head swinging around to spot any adults who might disapprove of it. "Come on," he cajoled when all he got in return were two suspicious stares, "Parents are out of town. They wouldn't have left me here if they didn't think something was going to happen."

"Nate."

"Hales."

"Please."

Haley let out a short sigh. Tim's puppy dog look was less endearing and more 'give in so he'd stop with the blinking'. "I promised Karen I'd help clean up," she explained, gesturing to the contained but still sizeable mess around them. "You can go, Nathan. I'll catch up when I'm done."

"Are you sure?" Nathan questioned, "I mean, I can stick around and help."

"Oh, please don't, Nathan. You turn Haley into the biggest klutz I've ever seen," cut in an unexpected voice. Three heads swiveled to meet Karen's friendly but accusatory gaze and Tim's mouth dropped open. "Oh, yes, I know. Party at Tim's," she made a 'woohoo' gesture with her finger and the teenagers grimaced in response. "Haley, go with Nathan. I'll just clean up tomorrow; we're not open anyway."

"I can help," butted in another voice and Nathan bit his lip to keep from screaming. "I worked at a diner all through high school, Karen. Haley and I will get this done and then head to the party," TJ offered with a pleasant smile.

Nathan, on the other hand, scowled darkly. It wasn't his fault all the assists in the world couldn't keep his hands off Haley, not even when she was balancing a stack of dirty dishes. "Oh, yeah, that'll be just great. A little chaperone for my girlfriend," he muttered hotly under his breath.

"Not that I need one," Haley added brightly, popping a kiss on his cheek before skipping into the kitchen. Nathan's eyes immediately widened and he belatedly reached out a hand toward his departing girlfriend. "See you in a bit, love."

Tim slapped him on the shoulder and grinned widely. "Great, let's go. My cousins are getting the alcohol. Oops, I wasn—" he cut off quickly, realizing that Karen was still standing with them.

"It's okay, Tim. Just try not to get into any trouble, okay?" she ordered while he nodded obediently. Nathan shot her a painful smile before dragging his best friend away. "And Tim?" she called after them, waiting for Tim's response. "Don't forget to break something of Sheri's."

"No problem, Ms. Roe," Tim grinned wide and genuine at the older lady, "I totally have that one covered." His own dislike of his stepmother had escalated recently as she'd tried to kick the two cousins, who'd come to spend the New Years with them, out of their sizeable house.

Tim practically had to drag away Nathan, who was seething at the site of Haley playfully swatting TJ with a dishrag. "Chill, man," Tim advised before catching the glare of anger and blame that was sent his way. "Or not."

***

Haley fiddled with the cursive H and J necklace charms hanging from around her neck while her eyes thoroughly scanned the party for any sign of her most likely brooding boyfriend. TJ had left her side a moment ago, heading for the keg and avoiding the consequences of any tension he had unknowingly caused.

While they cleaned, Haley took the opportunity to explain to her childhood friend the finer points of 'Nathan Scott the Jealous Asshole.' TJ had merely grinned and told her that she sure knew how to pick them before promising to stay out of touching range.

Finally, she spotted him, sulking in a corner and nursing a beer. Her gaze flew to the scantily-clad girl approaching his side and she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Where's the girlfriend, Natey?" Haley mentally provided the dialogue in an exaggeratedly high-pitched voice. Giggling at her own antics, she watched carefully. Her smile widened as Nathan merely scowled darkly and muttered an obvious curse word at the girl, shocking her into moving along disgustedly.

"Hey there sexy," she greeted, straddling his lap unceremoniously and flipping her hair exaggeratedly. Nathan grinned but remained tense, setting his beer down on the floor beside him.

"Hey back, gorgeous." His eyes moved down to her necklace before his fingers moved up to lightly play with them. "I didn't know you were wearing this tonight," he commented, looking up after she'd leaned in to peck his forehead.

"What? Yeah, of course I am. You gave it to me, remember?" she teased lightly, confused as to why he kept fiddling with the charms. Thankfully, they'd both decided to splurge on the Christmas presents, him with the necklace and her with a white gold chain link bracelet. "It must have been under my t-shirt," Haley realized, referring to her jeans and t-shirt combo while glancing around at all the other girls who'd managed to slut it up.

"Mmhmm," Nathan agreed, pressing his lips to where the charms rested on her chest. "Where's your friend?" he questioned, trying desperately to sound casual.

"Trying to hook up with Brooke or Peyton. I warned him against it but whatever, they're old enough to make their own bad decisions," Haley shrugged it off. "How about you? Want to go upstairs and exercise some questionable judgment?"

Nathan simply wrapped his arms around her waist and stood up from the chair, shifting her up slightly as he carried her giggling figure up the stairs. Haley didn't fail to notice how all tension drained out of his body the second she mentioned TJ's interest in their two other friends. "Eager much?" she quipped as he kicked open a guest bedroom door and lightly threw her onto the mattress.

"Baby, we haven't been alone in weeks. Our friends seriously need to get their own lives," Nathan replied, locking the door and pulling off his shirt in one continuous movement.

"What's this?" Haley questioned curiously when she spotted a glitter of something around his neck as he approached the mattress. She caught it in her hand, tracing the shape of a letter, while he lowered himself on top of her, hands deftly moving under her t-shirt.

"Concentrate, Hales," Nathan commanded, lips settled against her neck.

"I am," she protested, realization dawning as her fingers moved over the charm once more. A letter S in the same style of her H and J. "Nathan, why do you have this?" Haley questioned in all seriousness, scooting out from under him.

Nathan looked away carefully before his hands automatically gripped her waist, resituating her under him. "I'm keeping it for you," he responded, a serious look in his eyes. "It's for later, I promise. Later, okay?"

"Later," she agreed, smiling and allowing him to remove her shirt. Leaning towards his ear, Haley whispered, "The T's for Theodoros."

Bursting out in laughter, Nathan dropped his head to Haley's shoulder, momentarily forgetting about their previous activity. "Concentrate, _Scott_," Haley muttered in retaliation, sliding her hands into his hair and determinedly tugging his lips to hers.


	18. Seeing Blue

"She was flirting with you," Jenna commented plainly, her expression sour and unpleasant. He hadn't seen it but she had also stuck her tongue out at the girl, who had just flounced away from their table.

"Huh?" Nathan returned, his fork halfway to his mouth. He stared blankly at Haley's roommate and, also, his own friend.

Jake and Haley were missing from their usual Tuesday lunch meeting. Jake had a meeting with a professor and Haley was off at a study abroad session. He distinctly remembered scowling when Jenna had announced that, entering the cafeteria sans her roommate, and knew that Haley had done so to avoid telling him herself. At least, poor Jenna was no longer scared of being the messenger.

"Lau-ra," she replied, drawing the syllables out slowly and waving a hand in the direction she had left.

Nathan arched a curious eyebrow, "Isn't she Haley's friend? Or yours?"

"I was drunk. She was drunk. We were in the same room. That hardly makes us friends, Nathan," Jenna rolled her eyes, disgustedly jamming a forkful of pasta into her mouth. "She was flirting with you, hard. And you didn't do a damn thing about it. Just sat there. It was like watching a wolf circle prey."

He resumed the scowl from when Haley hadn't shown. "I was being polite. I wasn't _prey._ Guys aren't prey. _I'm _not prey."

"Sure thing, Nate," she returned sarcastically, "I was rolling my eyes so hard I'm surprised they didn't fall out of my head. Haley's not here; you were prey. Deal. And you shouldn't be polite to girls like that. All they're going to do is spread rumors about how you like them or you're hooking up with them or some other bullshit. Or the people, who see you talking to her, will."

"Aren't you just optimistic today, Jenna? You and Jake have a lover's spat?" Nathan bit back, "What do you suggest I do about girls like her? And people don't spread rumors about us."

"I _suggest_ you be the asshole we both know you love being. At least until you, and Haley, know this girl isn't trying to pull something," Jenna advised seriously. "And people don't spread rumors about us because, one, you're dating Haley, two, _I_ am _not_ that kind of girl, three, I like Jake, and four, all of the freaking above."

"So you expect me to be an asshole to every girl on this campus that Haley doesn't personally know?" Nathan questioned incredulously as Jenna just blinked back in response, nodding slowly. "Any one ever tell you that you have really high standards? And apparently really low self-esteem?"

The immediate response was another roll of her eyes. "No, I'm just saying beware of girls with too short skirts and too few brain cells to have been accepted into this school on their own merit. You don't have to be an asshole to _me_."

"Why are you being an asshole to Jenna?"

The voice from above them shocked them both and they looked up guiltily at the newly arrived Haley and Jake. That is the newly arrived Haley since Jake merely dumped his backpack on the ground and went in search of food.

"She's telling me to not be polite," Nathan replied quickly, wavering under the gaze of his suspicious girl's. "She told me to be an asshole to every girl you don't know because they might be hitting on me or something."

"Tattle-tale," Jenna muttered under her breath, kicking him under the table. "Laura Maloney was hitting on him and he just sat there and smiled. I straightened him out on what to do in those situations."

"Be an asshole?" Haley guessed, dropping her messenger bag and leaning down to Nathan for a kiss. "Listen to Jenna," she instructed before leaving to acquire her own food.

"Hah," she returned triumphantly, smugly smiling at him. Nathan muttered a few curses under his breath before returning to the scowl that had been serving him well as of late.

"Hey, Scott, Jenna, what's up?"

Nathan looked up in relief, spotting Pete, or Petey, one of the other freshman basketball players. "Sit down, Petey," Nathan quickly gestured to a free chair and the other guy accepted, carefully balancing his multiple plates of food. "How's it going, man?"

"Not too bad," Pete replied, breaking apart his roll. "Where's your girl? And your boy?" he teased, Jenna blushing in protest.

"Getting food," they replied simultaneously, nodding over to where Haley and Jake were struggling to navigate through the crowded cafeteria, Jake obviously carrying considerably more food than Haley.

Haley immediately set her plate down before wrapping her arms around Pete in a quick hug and popping a kiss on his cheek. "Aw, hey, Petey. We haven't seen you around lately. Where you been?"

Unconsciously, Nathan frowned at her friendly behavior. Grateful he was finished eating, he grabbed her hand under the table and refused to let go, forcing Haley to switch to her left hand to eat. He played with her fingers before lifting her hand and pressing his lips to her palm, causing her to turn and smile at him. "Around, I guess," Pete shrugged, "Definitely not my classes." The group shared a small chuckle before Jenna smiled slyly.

"So, Petey, I noticed you said 'hi' to Laura Maloney on your way in. Know her well?" she questioned, ignoring Nathan's eye roll and groan and Haley's amused smirk.

Pete immediately picked up on his teammate's look of exasperation and hesitated for a moment. "Uh, no, I wouldn't say that," he stuttered out, squinting his eyes and trying to read Jenna's mind.

"Well, I only ask because she was trying to hit on Natey here and he just happens to believe that Laura's too much of a nice girl for her to ever flirt with a taken guy," she prodded, smiling victoriously when Pete instinctively snorted out a 'Yeah, right.' "See, Nathan, I told you so."

"Man, she's hooked up with, like, half the team, Nate. How could you not know her deal? She's been trying to bag you since day one," Pete blurted out incredulously. His mouth dropped open as his mind processed what he had just said, and in front of Haley no less. "Uh…"

Haley laughed and patted him on the arm gently. "It's okay, Petey. I'm not as naive as all you boys and Nathan think I am. And I'm not about to go off and murder every girl who hits on him."

"Well, duh," Nathan scoffed. "You're smart, Hales, but I don't think even you can get away with murdering that many girls."

Nathan's chuckle immediately died on his lips when he caught sight of Haley's death glare. He swallowed hard and shot his own glare over at Pete when he muttered a quiet 'uh oh.'

"I'm just going to go," Pete mumbled out, having finished his lunch within moments of sitting down. "See you at the game this weekend, Hales?" he asked politely, trying to recover points. Everyone already knew Jenna was driving back home for her mother's birthday and would have to miss it.

"No."

"Yes."

Haley glared once again when Nathan answered at the same time as her. This time, he glared right back. "Yes, you are going," he spit out forcefully, teeth clenched tightly together. "We'll talk about it later," Nathan relented, realizing his girlfriend's annoyance with him was not helping the situation.

***

"Tell me again why I'm driving ALL the way to Durham to watch this game when I've got massive amounts of work to do?" Haley questioned, her feet swinging off the edge of the bed as she watched her boyfriend jam random school supplies into her backpack. She scowled at him and his packing methods before continuing, "It's not that I don't want to see you play, babe, but I do have work to do."

Nathan set the bag on the floor before moving between her legs and glaring into her innocent brown eyes. His girlfriend had gone from straight pissed at him for trying to dictate her plans to playing innocent and naive. It was not a good sign. "You're going because Matt asked you to come and the West's already somehow got a ticket for you to sit by them. And besides classes just started two weeks ago, what could possibly be due?"

Haley shrugged nonchalantly. He had caught her there. "Come on, Nathan, what's the real reason I'm going? You know Matt is way fonder of you than he is of me. He's going to be so excited getting to watch you and Damien play. I bet he'll barely even realize I'm there. And the West's will understand if I tell him I have too much school work."

He knew she was doing it to get a rise out of him but he practically growled at her anyway. "You know why you're going," he cajoled, a glint in his eyes. "It's so I can show up that little prick, West. I have the girl; he's the wannabe player."

"Aw, I love you too, sweetie," Haley sarcastically snit, the arms she wound around his neck belying her true reaction. "So I shouldn't have called Damien last night and told him when I'd be getting to Durham? I thought I could spend some time catching up with him. You don't mind, do you?"

Nathan's jaw dropped open and his eyebrows shot into his hairline. Before he could fully process what she had said and fix that harsh glare on her, she tightened her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth to his stunned one. "Relax, I'm kidding. I don't even have his number."

Disentangling himself, he shot her a dirty look. "Don't think I won't pay Jenna to record your phone calls," he threatened jokingly.

"Aw, is little ole me getting the star player all jealous and possessive?" Haley batted her eyelashes at him exaggeratedly, laughing at his eye roll.

She squeaked unexpectedly when he pinched a certain part of her and growled, "You bet your sweet ass. Now get your books. We have to keep your trifecta going."

"My trifecta?" Haley questioned suspiciously even as she began handing him the books she actually needed. Nathan haphazardly dumped out the randomness he'd shoved into her messenger bag on her desk and began packing again, oblivious to her scowl at the mess he'd made.

He nodded absentmindedly. "Hot, mindblowing in bed, _and_ smart."

***

Haley's mouth dropped along with the other some 9,000 fans' in the stadium. There was a moment of shocked silence before the booing and craziness ensued. Her view was almost entirely blocked by the fans in the row in front, who'd begun jumping up and down and threatening to bring the stands down on to the court below.

She felt an impatient tug on her sleeve and dropped her head to near Matt's mouth. "Haley, I think you should hide," the young boy informed her seriously, looking very concerned for her welfare. She gave out a nervous laugh and patted the boy reassuringly on his head. Thankfully, she had opted for a plain white tee and peacoat, not wanting to be in the Cameron Stadium and known as an opposing team fan.

Between heads, she watched as the security team pushed back outraged fans and attempted to keep them from throwing concession items at the Demon Deacon team that was hurrying to the locker rooms. Nathan still had a look of shock and disbelief painted on his face as Jake dragged him by the elbow through the alcove.

"Come on," Mr. West urged, standing up and herding them towards the aisle. He had a sour look on his face, either from the loss or the poor behavior of the fans. "We can go wait in the back," he stated knowledgably, hoisting Matt up into his arms for fear of the boy being trampled.

Haley turned back for a second, watching the screen once more as it replayed the final shot. Nathan had thrown up what was the definition of a 'Hail Mary' shot, somewhere between the half court and three-point line but much closer to half court. The buzzer had cut through the air just after the ball fell through the net in a near perfect swish and the fans who'd been ready to celebrate were left dropping back in the seats in shock.

Outside was almost worse than inside. Unfortunately the fans that knew where the back entrance was located were the most diehard and upset ones. Melanie had sandwiched her in between her and her mom, hurriedly pressing them in through security. "She's my cousin," Melanie protested quickly to the guard, who tried to extract her from the West family. A quick flash of their box tickets and Mrs. West's agreement and he quickly stepped away, returning to restraining the fans.

Damien stepped out, immediately spotting his family and heading over. After a quick glance around and hello's to everyone else, he smirked, "Hey Hales." Haley rolled her eyes at the way he so obviously looked for Nathan and he shrugged carelessly before turning his attention to Matt. "Hey buddy," he greeted, crouching down to Matt's height and making a sad face, "not a good night for us, huh?"

"But Nathan won," the boy protested admiringly, "Where is _he_?"

Haley mentally congratulated Damien on taking Matt's obvious dismissal of him in stride. He took a quick peek over his shoulder towards the exit before straightening, placing a protective hand on Matt's shoulder. "I think they're holding them in the locker rooms for a while. Interviews and stuff," he addressed the rest of them. "Plus, sometimes the fans will leave after a few minutes—especially since it's cold out."

"I don't see why they're so upset. Anybody could have won. It was a close game," Haley muttered disapprovingly, scowling in the direction of the Cameron Crazies, who lingered by the security gate.

Damien's jaw dropped, "Close game? Are you crazy? There was no way in hell little Wake Forest was—"

"No, I'm not crazy, Damien," Haley jumped in furiously. "The score was tied almost the whole game and it was down to one point in the final seconds. I don't know what game you were watching but there was not a moment where one team was in obvious control of the pace. And at least _little _Wake Forest has recently turned out NBA superstars. How's J.J. Redick's NBA career going?" she snit sarcastically.

"Keep your voice down," Melanie hissed, glaring over her head at the Duke fans, who obviously heard a piece of Haley's rant and towards one of the Duke players no less. "This is not exactly the place to have it out, guys." With that, she sent a skin-crawling glare at her younger brother, who merely glowered in return.

Suddenly, Haley felt a pair of strong arms slide around her waist and when Nathan leaned down to kiss her cheek, he mumbled into her ear, "That was hot, babe." She blushed furiously in his arms as he greeted the West's and then disentangled himself from her to hug Matt.

"Hey man. Cool game huh?" Nathan enthused to the boy, who was probably his biggest fan. Matt nodded his head enthusiastically and began rambling, causing the adults to break out in laughter and even Damien to crack a smile. "Alright, I'm going to give you something but you have to promise to let your uh," he nodded over to Mrs. West questioningly, "mom wash it first."

"Promise! What is it?" Matt demanded immediately.

Nathan chuckled as he removed the sweatband from around his wrist. "It's for good luck, okay? I never would have made that last shot without this." Matt took the sweatband eagerly while the three women crinkled their noses. Why in the world something like someone else's sweat rag was cool to receive they had no idea.

"Scott!"

Everyone's head whipped around to see one of the assistant coaches standing by the bus and waving him over. The rest of the team was already in line to board. With a nod, Nathan headed over and handed his gym bag to Jake, exchanging a few words with him.

Instead of getting on the bus as usual, he ignored his coaches' protests and came jogging back to them. He hurriedly pulled her face to his, kissing her with an intensity that was only exhibited post-victory. Haley clung to his warm-up jacket breathlessly, knowing he was smirking, and smiled softly when he brought his hands up to caress the sides of her face and leveled his eyes with hers. "Thank you for coming. I never would have made that last shot without you."

Haley leaned in for one more short peck, mumbling an "I love you," before reluctantly releasing him. Nathan said his goodbyes and shared a fist-bump with Matt, finally joining the rest of his team on the bus.


	19. Blackmail

If you're curious, Haley's prank dates back to Chapter 1.

* * *

They lay on the bed facing each other, her against the wall since Nathan was convinced she'd roll over and fall off the small twin bed. Playfully, she bit at his finger that was carefully tracing over her facial features.

"Are you guys even listening?"

Haley cut off her giggle immediately, knowing it was what alerted Lucas to their inattention. Nathan sighed heavily, rolling his eyes at her, before leaning down to his cell phone that was on speaker phone and lying between them. "Yes, we're listening, Luke," he grumbled, agitated but trying to placate his older brother. It was one thing to date your brother's best friend; it was a whole different thing to listen to your girlfriend's best friend whine when you had an empty room to yourselves.

"No, you aren't," Lucas retorted childishly, "If you two don't want to talk to me, just say so. I don't need to hear the foreplay." There was a moment of shocked silence before Lucas groaned audibly, "Okay, great, I just gave myself a reason to go bleach my mind. I'll talk to you later."

The phone beeped, indicating the end of the call, and Nathan tossed the device onto his backpack. In one swift movement, he grabbed her waist and resituated them to him lying on his back, her on his chest, and her hair everywhere. Pushing a few loose strands away from his mouth, Nathan smirked, "Amazing. I can't believe that's all it took to make Lucas hang up. You giggling."

"Apparently I'm very distracting," Haley quipped, impatiently pushing her hair out of the way. She stared at the strands contemplatively, wondering how it'd look if she cut and dyed it.

"Apparently," Nathan agreed, pushing a kiss to her lips, "I wonder what would happen if I answered the phone during sex."

"Nathan!"

Haley shot upright, landing on his stomach with a small 'oomph.' She sent him a harsh glare through a curtain of her still-tangled hair. "If you ever do that," she warned seriously, ignoring the feel of his fingers reaching up to patiently comb through the tangles, "I will…find something to blackmail you with."

He laughed at the pathetic mumble that finished off her 'stern' threat. "Aw, come on, Hales," Nathan cajoled, tugging her down far enough to press a kiss to her throat. "It'd be hilarious. Think of it as a social experiment." His chuckle faded into an amused smirk when she pulled away again, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Nathan, your brother and my best friend does not need to hear—"

"How good I am?" Nathan cut her off, a full-blown smirk firmly in place as she scowled down at him, "or how loud I can make you scream? Or is it—" She slammed a hand down on his mouth, eyes wide and full of shock. Determinedly, he pried her small hand away from his lips. "Of course, you're not near as loud as you are at home; these walls are like paper and I don't need the pervs we call dormmates hearing you."

Without another word, she de-straddled him and headed for her computer, grumbling threats the entire way. Nathan merely chuckled at her behavior before realizing she just may have something up her sleeve. In two steps, he was by her side in the small dorm room, staring intently at the document she was pulling up.

"Wait, no!" he burst out, grabbing the laptop and yanking it off her desk and out of the power strip. "What are you doing!"

"What are you doing with my laptop, Nathan?" Haley inquired calmly, a small but visible smirk coming to rest on her lips. Nathan stared unabashedly at the decidedly evil look in her girlfriend's eyes, one he had never before encountered. "I'm just trying to work on an assignment and there you go, ripping the computer out of my hands."

"You're not just—" he cut himself off when the door opened and Jenna walked in, a confused and suspicious expression taking over her face. She stared at the scene before her: Nathan stretching Haley's laptop in the air with one hand, the thing nearly hitting the ceiling, and looking unquestionably panicked and Haley standing with a hand casually stretched out, an expression of faux-innocence plastered on.

"Okay," she mumbled, dodging between the two and over to her desk before grabbing a book and moving out the door again.

"She thinks you're crazy, Nathan," Haley stated, knowingly, "and you know something? Maybe you are."

"You're making me paranoid on purpose," he protested. With one eye trained on his petite girlfriend, he angled the laptop screen down, quickly scanning over the words on the screen. True to her word, it was a document: a project description for her Communications mid-term presentation to be exact. Chastised, Nathan slowly lowered it to her desk, picking up her power cord and plugging it back in. "I thought you were going to blackmail me?" he mumbled in response to her questioning gaze.

"With my Comm project?" Haley retorted, eyes rolling. "No, you were being an ass so I decided I didn't want to sit on my bed with my ass of a boyfriend and went to work on something that's actually important, unlike trying to cause Lucas psychological distress. Besides what would I have on my computer that I could blackmail you with?"

Nathan shrugged, admitting defeat. Picking up his pride, he brushed a kiss against her cheek and made his way out of the room, oblivious to the glint of mischief clearing showing in Haley's eyes.

***

Nathan practically growled as he ripped off the piece of pink stationary taped inside of his Accounting textbook. He rolled his eyes before tearing it into a million tiny pieces and slamming it into the trashcan in front of the building. Storming his way into the dorm, Nathan glared at the empty lounge, forgoing the girls' side and heading straight for his own room.

Barging in, he reveled in the sound of the door hitting the wall before noticing his girlfriend curled on her side in his bed. He rolled his eyes immediately, assuming she was there to beg his forgiveness. However, he realized she hadn't even reacted to his stomping in and hurriedly dropped his backpack, moving toward the side of the bed she was facing.

Her brows were furrowed together and her eyes, even closed, were puffy and agitated. Nathan frowned before smoothing a hand over her cheek and pressing his lips to her forehead. "Hey," she whispered lightly. The small smile she gave him seemed dimmer than usual and fell quickly.

"What's wrong?" he questioned. At her invitation, he kicked off his shoes and slid under the covers to join her. "You been crying?" Nathan guessed correctly, even as she shook her head in denial.

"Just a bad day," Haley responded, pushing her lips to his. "I needed you but you were in class so I just climbed in here," she admitted unabashedly, shrugging her shoulders.

Nathan smiled against his will, damping down the surge of pride from hearing that she needed him. Too often, it was him who needed her: to calm his temper, to ease along his relationship with his parents, to keep his grades up, to stay in touch with their friends. "I'm sorry," he apologized quickly, seeing her confused expression at his smile. "What's wrong? What can I do?" Nathan offered, pleased to see her pouting lips twitch upwards.

"Hold me?" she questioned quietly, sighing when his hands easily found her hips and began shifting her on top of him. Taking one of his wrists, Haley simply tugged until he was laying half on top of her and shrugged at his confusion, "I want to look at you, too." She burrowed into the mattress, scooting as far as she could underneath his body without suffocating, and took a deep, relaxing breath.

His eyebrows knitted together, though an amused smile graced his lips. So this is how his levelheaded girlfriend dealt with stress? He kind of liked being her literal rock, her place of refuge, at least enough to override his concerns of crushing her.

"I said something stupid in Comm class today," Haley mumbled, "I know it's not a big deal but it was just really embarrassing. And after class, I had to talk with my professor about the mid-term project so I just felt a little like the class dunce."

"Hales," Nathan soothed, wrapping an arm around her waist and hugging her closer. While it wouldn't have seemed like the end of the world for anyone else he knew, Haley simply prided herself too much on her smarts to not be upset for being wrong in front of her entire class. "It's okay. That happens to me all the time."

"No, it doesn't. You never participate in your classes," she chastised and he immediately rolled his eyes. Of course, she's crying into his chest and still has the presence of mind to scold him about his class habits. "Sorry," Haley apologized, wincing at his insulted expression. Gently, he kissed her forehead and urged her to continue.

"Then I was having lunch with Jenna and the girls in the booth behind me were making comments. How you obviously weren't with me for my looks and apparently there wasn't much going on upstairs either," she barely mumbled out the end of the sentence and it was Nathan's turn to wince. "I knew they were in my Comm class. One of the girls, well, you just can't forget her voice."

"It doesn't normally bother me, you know? Just this time, it was like adding insult to injury. Jenna started giving the one she could see this completely evil glare. I'm surprised she didn't just fall over dead on the spot," Haley chuckled lightly and Nathan forced himself to go along. Usually petty comments like those didn't ruffle Haley's feathers one bit, but usually he found himself wishing that the commentators were guys he could hit.

"That's not all, right?" Nathan guessed quickly. There were plenty of times when Haley's mouth got the better of her at inappropriate times, including during class. And there were plenty of times when stupid girls thought they could even touch her with their snide attitudes and nasty insults.

"Well, I was talking to Brooke a little while ago and she was telling me how her mom's such a bitch," Haley disclosed and Nathan nodded along. Everyone in Tree Hill knew what a lacking parent and overall nasty human being Victoria Davis was. "Brooke's thinking of transferring to a fashion design school so she told her mom, who basically shut down the idea and said the only people who'd buy her clothes would have to be blind."

"Did you know the last time I talked to my mom I practically hung up on her? She was trying to tell me about her coworker's son, who's tutoring elementary kids at his college, and how she thought I'd be good at it and looked up a few programs for me. I had that English essay due so I just told her I was busy and hung up," she sighed deeply, a few unbidden tears leaking out. "Brooke tries to get her mom's support and gets called a failure. My mom's trying to encourage me and I hang up on her. I feel like such a crappy daughter."

"And my master plan, of course, was to come crying to you," Haley laughed mirthlessly at herself, quickly wiping her tears away. "I kind of forgot about the prank I pulled on you. I forgot that you'd probably be really pissed off at me and wouldn't even want to talk to me, let alone have me cry on your shoulder. Yet, here I am, doing it anyway. Damn it, I'm a crappy girlfriend, too."

Nathan smiled, amused again, "You're not a bad girlfriend, Hales. It was kind of funny, I guess, sort of." The last part was mumbled as he ducked his head, remembering just how paranoid and suspicious he'd been all day. It wasn't the slightest bit funny to him, but Haley didn't have to know that right now.

Her lips twitched upwards in a short smile at his obvious lie. "It wasn't funny. I knew it wasn't when I did it, but I kind of figured I'd make it up to you with really great sex," Haley revealed, blushing furiously.

An eyebrow crept into an arch and the smirk on his lips was hardly contained. "Okay," Nathan stated agreeably, suddenly more than willing to forgive his girlfriend's indiscretions.

"You know I still mean everything I wrote back then," Nathan reminded her, feeling the need to brighten her mood. Haley raised a suspicious eyebrow in response and he chuckled lightly, "So I might love you a little less right now, but I still love you and Luke and our friends and my parents and basketball and whatever else I wrote."

Haley allowed a hopeful grin to show; after all, she went to great lengths to hide those notes where no one else would have had a chance of finding them. "And I love that you're not going to tell anyone else about this little incident, right?"

"Good luck with that, babe."

***

"He-_hello?_ Oh…uh, hey, Luke."

"Nathan Scott! Hang up the phone this instant!"


	20. Birthday

"I can't believe I'm in here," Nathan grumbled quietly under his breath. He shot a glare at the pint-sized blonde who was currently squealing away and shot his second glare at Jake, who could hardly contain himself.

Jake quickly covered his mouth with his hands, hoping it would stifle the chuckles and overall laughter that threatened to break out. He had been in the same position months ago but Nathan, his usually unflappable, cocky teammate, just looked so much more out of place.

"Can I help you, gentlemen?" a pretty brunette queried, an all too accommodating smile on her face. Jake snickered again.

"I need a teddy bear," Nathan stated exhaustedly.

"Aw, Nate, you want me to go get Mr. Waffles for you? I know he'd like to be your cuddle buddy," Jake managed to snicker, ducking quickly under the fist Nathan swung his way. He scurried and took refuge behind a small family, unfortunately leaving Nathan to his devices with the salesgirl.

"You've come to the right place," she continued as if Jake had never been there. Nathan sighed and swiped a hand over his eyes as she flirted with him. "Is this for your sister, maybe a niece or cousin?" she questioned and he rolled his eyes at her obvious fishing.

Grunting at Jake, who'd felt safe enough to rejoin him, he glared down at her. "No, it's for my girlfriend. Stop flirting with me and do something useful."

The girl gawked at him while Jake covered his mouth once more and finally muttered, "What are you looking for?"

"A normal teddy bear. What's a giraffe doing in a teddy bear factory?" he grumbled, finding the store more annoying than he normally did.

She shrugged and rolled her eyes at him, obviously now as irritated as he was. "It's for a charity, back off," the brunette practically barked at them before leading him over to a section of the store that had 'normal' teddy bears.

Nathan quickly perused them before grabbing a light brown one and offering it to Jake, who merely nodded in approval. "Wait," the girl called him back when he turned to walk to the register, "you have to help stuff it." An eyebrow was raised in question and Jake bit down on his knuckles to muffle his laughter. "Oh come on, you said it was for your girlfriend. You have to at least put some effort into it."

Smacking the back of Jake's head, he reluctantly followed her to the box-like contraption filled with fuzz. "Fear for your life, Jagielski."

Twenty minutes later and the two masculine males walked out of the bright store carrying a cardboard box shaped as a house. "Come on," Jake motioned for the escalators and Nathan merely stared at him, car keys already in hand. "I promised Jenna I'd go pick up something for her," he explained further.

"Great, you do that," Nathan encouraged with false brightness. "I'm going to go hide in the car. Meet me out there when you're done being whipped by a girl you're not even dating."

Jake flushed a dark red in embarrassment before gesturing down to the cardboard house in Nathan's hand. "I'm whipped? This coming from the guy holding a teddy bear he tested for huggability?" he smirked in retaliation while Nathan gave him a one-fingered salute. "Hey, don't leave without me!" he called out to Nathan's back, shaking his head and chuckling in amusement.

"Here, just talk to Haley."

Haley barely heard the exasperated words as her bedroom door was kicked open and a hand thrust a cell phone into her face, wiggling the device impatiently. She looked up at her boyfriend, who appeared extremely frustrated, and stared at him in confusion. "It's my mom. Talk to her," he practically bit out before dropping the phone on her desk and depositing himself in her bed.

Picking up the phone, she quickly apologized to Deb, all the while motioning at Nathan to take his shoes off. Rolling his eyes, he complied and then picked up her pillow and screamed into it. "No, I don't know what that sound was," Haley answered brightly, looking for an object to chuck at Nathan.

"Happy birthday!" she continued and snuck a glance at Nathan. His head popped out from under the pillow and an expression of obvious guilt took over his features. "You're more than welcome. Don't even worry about it." She paused for a moment, sticking her tongue out at him. "Oh, yeah, he's just being a grouch today. Early morning practice," Haley covered expertly, shooting another glare at Nathan, who was now standing and gesturing for the phone.

"He ran out to use the little boy's room," Haley spoke, obviously commenting on his childish behavior, "but he's back and wants to talk again. Is there anything you needed from me?" She stuck her tongue out at Nathan before perking her voice up once again, "Okay, well, happy birthday again! Enjoy it!"

Nathan mumbled a guilt-ridden 'Happy birthday' into the phone before escaping Haley's admonishing glare and ducking out of her room. He good-naturedly 'uh huh-ed' and 'yeah-ed' at the appropriate times, his forehead creasing as he attempted to remember the gift he had sent her and coming up with nothing. Soon, he tired of his mom's ramblings about the daily life of Tree Hill and begged off the phone, claiming exhaustion.

"How'd you know it was my mom's birthday?" he questioned his girlfriend, who was once again hard at work at her desk. Without waiting for her response, he climbed back into her bed and continued, "And what did you send her because I know I didn't get her shit."

"Easy, it's a week before mine. In case you forgot, take that as your reminder and forget about it again because I don't want anything," Haley warned, turning halfway in her chair to point her pen threateningly. Nathan gave her a look of mock innocence and she sighed, wondering how her boyfriend managed to remember her birthday when they'd known each other barely three years but couldn't be counted on to remember his own mother's. "I mean it, Nathan, whatever you and Jenna are up to, together or separately, I want no part of it. And I sent her a bouquet of flowers, both our names were on the card."

"Oh thanks Hales," Nathan sighed in relief. It was simple but thoughtful at the same time and not near as convoluted as picking out jewelry. "So I should just cancel the skywriter now? And Jenna should take it down to one male stripper? I told her four was your lucky number so I think she was going to…"

His teasing was cut off when Haley climbed onto the bed and all but plopped down onto his upper stomach, the air whooshing out of his lungs. Her expression was a mixture of disbelief, fear, and abject horror and he struggled not to burst out in laughter.

"You better be kidding, Nathan Scott," Haley warned, poking a finger into his chest. "That would be more horrifying and less funny than the time the entire senior class watched us walk out of the boy's locker room at graduation practice."

Nathan took the excuse and quickly broke out into loud laughter, barely refraining from rolling over on the small mattress and knocking Haley right off. "She's your roommate, babe. I'm pretty sure you know as well as anyone else that she does what she wants. Except that whole dating Jake thing because unfortunately life doesn't like us that much."

"No, it doesn't. But your girlfriend will like you even more if you don't go overboard on her birthday and keep from embarrassing her in even the slightest little way," Haley cajoled, stretching out along his body and peering hopefully up into his eyes.

Nathan let out a slight groan and slid his hand up under her t-shirt. The best part of embarrassing Haley was the blush that would work its way down her neck and how she would inevitably turn and bury her face in his shoulder. And here she was trying to cheat him out of it. "That's not fair, Hales. Waiters singing "Happy birthday" at restaurants embarrass you. Does that mean I can't even take you out for dinner?"

"Not to a restaurant that sings "Happy birthday"," she chirped brightly, patting his chest affectionately. He let out a groan of disappointment when she clamored off the bed and slipped out of his reach. "Sorry, babe. Have to finish my work if I'm going to drive down to Atlanta for the tournament and not feel guilty about it."

"Aww, you're no fun," he mock pouted but dutifully swung his legs around to sit up fully on her bed.

"Nathan, in case the poncho and the tutoring didn't tip you off, I have never been your kind of fun," Haley quipped, a nostalgic smile on her face. She obeyed his tug and moved to stand between his legs, resting her hands on his knees.

"I don't know what you think my kind of fun is, but I was talking about the fun we were doing last night." He ignored her rolling eyes and pulled her in for a short kiss, smirking against her smiling lips.

"Okay, that's my kind of fun, too, but unfortunately I'm not going to do you right now. I've got homework. I believe you know the way out, kind sir." In turn, she ignored his pout and went to open the door, promptly kicking him out.

"Nathan, don't let me forget Mr. Waffles!" Haley called out, her blonde hair flying around as she ran hurriedly around her small room. Nathan, confined to a small corner on her bed, reached an arm out and barely caught hold of hers. "Nathan! Let go!" she turned and caught the look he was giving her before sighing and climbing onto the bed with him. "Sorry, I'm just really excited."

"I can tell," he returned a small smirk on his lips. "I am too. You get to hang out with your brother and sister and I have a legitimate excuse to not make nice with your family members." His smirk grew at her outraged gasp and fell at the subsequent smack to his shoulder. "What? You know it's true."

Haley scowled tiredly at him, "You could at least pretend to like my family." Her frustration was obvious and Nathan immediately softened. He knew he'd been a little whiny lately but hadn't expected it to have an actual toll on his girlfriend.

"Sorry, you know I love your family, well at least your parents and Vivian and Quinn," he reassured, gathering her more tightly in his arms. "It's just…you've been whining so much—"

"Oh you mean like you," Haley retorted, pinching his arm childishly.

"Well, if you'd let me finish," he returned, jostling her slightly. "You've been whining about how you need to finish your work early and how long the trip to Atlanta's going to be and how boring it's going to be. And now all that's stopped and you're excited to go. Hell, you're actually leaving earlier than me! It makes me feel like I'm some kind of burden for you."

"God, Nathan, I'm sorry. You know that was never my intention. I just—of course, I'm excited to see you play. I'm so proud of you and the team for making it this far and I love that I'm getting to be a part of it. Getting to see my family is just a bonus and you know that." Haley caressed his cheek softly before pressing her lips to his.

Nathan sighed, "I know all this. I do. I know I'm being a brat and petty and all these other things. I just wish you'd been more excited about this trip when it was just about me. And I know that's really selfish but I can't help it. I want you to spend time with your family and I know you want to, too, so don't ignore them or anything on my account."

"Don't worry I won't," Haley laughed teasingly. "Once you get down there, Nathan, you'll barely remember I'm there. And I don't mean that at all in a bad way. You're going to be so busy fending off all those reporters and ESPN people because you guys are going to kick ass at this tournament. You'll be so grateful you can just dump me on my parents and be all superstar-like."

With a short laugh, he pulled her down to lie with him. "Now you're just lying to make me feel better. You're never far from my mind, Hales, and I always want you with me."

"Thanks, babe," she pushed another short kiss to his lips. "Since you're all done freaking out, can I get back to mine? I can't believe I finally get to see my baby nephew!" she gushed, Nathan finally laughing along with her.

Since the ACC Tournament would be in Atlanta, Haley had planned on spending the free time with Vivian and Eric and the baby. When her oldest brother Connor had found out, he decided to see the new family addition at the same time, prompting Lydia and Jimmy to join in on the fun. In spite of his little temper tantrum, he was grateful they'd be around. The tournament was bound to be boring for Haley, since the team wouldn't be allowed out much, if at all, and none of their close friends were going to make it down.

"Well, for some more excitement, I decided you can have part of your birthday present early since you've decided to ditch us two days ahead of schedule," Nathan guilted again, chuckling when she merely shot him a dirty look. "You know Jenna's still pissed you've ruined whatever she had planned by skipping out early, right?"

"I know," Haley sighed out, running a hand through her hair. "I'd actually feel worse about it but I'm almost positive whatever it was actually did involve male strippers so I'm more relieved than anything." Nathan simply raised his eyebrows at her, waiting for the comment. "Of course, I wouldn't mind a striptease from my favorite guy."

"Of course you wouldn't," he deadpanned, "but I'll see what I can do."

"Now I'm definitely excited. Is that the part of the present I'm getting early?" Haley smirked, her hands reaching for the hem of his t-shirt.

"Don't tease," Nathan muttered dejected, half-heartedly swatting at her hands. "We both know your flight's in about two hours and you're still not packed. I'll go get your present."

Haley sighed as he left the room, falling back on her mattress. She shook her head slightly in disbelief, wondering how her star athlete of a boyfriend could feel threatened by not having her full attention for a week. Of course, if he had done the same to her, she probably would have reacted the same.

"Here," he thrust a large wrapped box at her. "Jenna wrapped it, obviously. She wanted me to tell you that so she could contribute something to your first birthday present," Nathan sighed, "You know, she is getting Lucas-level possessive of your friendship."

She shrugged casually, "Guess I'm just that lovable." Without another word, she tore into the wrapping paper, ignoring Nathan's look of amusement. "A teddy bear?" she questioned, even as she hugged it tightly to her chest.

"Hey, that's a teddy bear with perfect huggability," he defended, shrugging helplessly, "I thought Mr. Waffles needed a friend."

"Well I love it," Haley declared, pushing up to kneel on the bed. She threw her arms around his neck, the new bear held tightly in her hands. "I love that you love me enough to care about Mr. Waffles' loneliness."

"Happy early birthday, baby. I'm so sorry I won't get to spend it with you and I love you so much for putting up with a week of basketball instead," Nathan closed his eyes and hugged her tighter.

"Oh we're totally making time for this. I don't care if I have to take a later flight out," Haley swore, reaching behind him to throw the door shut.

Nathan just grinned, lifting her legs around his waist and crawling onto the bed with her. "Good because I already told Jake and Jenna to stay the hell out."


	21. Going Gets Tough

"Fine you can go," Nathan grit out from behind clenched teeth, slowly he lowered his hands which had been gripped into his hair.

Her eyes were disbelieving behind the sheen of tears. "Nathan, I do not need your perm—"

"Yes, you do! If I was going to take off for five months, I'd be asking for your permission. Don't even try to pretend that this doesn't affect me as much as it does you," he cursed softly under his breath. "I know you would have done this with or without my permission so maybe it doesn't matter to you."

"This isn't about you! Nathan, please don't take this personally—"

He cut her off with a harsh and bitter laugh. "Not about me? How can it not be about me, Haley? Before you, I didn't even have the concept of personal. Everything about you is about me."

"I don't know how to talk to you about this, Nathan. Why do you think it's taken me so long…" Haley took a deep breath, "to own up? I know Jenna and she wouldn't have lied. She must have told you whenever I was at a meeting. It's done, Nathan, okay? I couldn't talk to you about this during the process because if I did, I wouldn't have the nerve to go through with it."

"Done?"

"All the paperwork's done. My parents paid already, Adam and Viv even chipped in a couple thousand. I can't just back out now," her face contorted miserably when he picked up a shoe and threw it across the room, the rubber bouncing harmlessly against the wall. "I'm sorry. I don't know what to say to make this better."

Nathan just gave her a disbelieving look. "Nothing? Nothing crosses your mind? How about 'I'm not going'? 'This is all a joke?' Damn, Haley," he dropped onto her bed, palms crushing into his face. "You couldn't have talked to me about this even a little? Given me some kind of warning?"

"You understand though?" she questioned hopefully.

He gave off another bitter laugh. It was ridiculous how well she could read him, sense even the slightest cracks in his exterior, and when he was about to give into her. "Well, you haven't really left me much of a choice. It's what? Agree or lose you? Agree and lose you anyway?"

Haley's expression dropped into one of misery he'd never even seen before. "How could you even think those things, Nathan? When have we ever been all or nothing?

"What am I supposed to think, Haley? This morning I thought the biggest thing on your to do list was to sign up for next year's housing with Jenna. Now you're telling me you're not even going to be on campus next year! Hell, you're moving to another country for who knows how long and I'm supposed to have seen this coming?" Nathan heaved a sigh, knowing arguing about it now wouldn't change anything. "Haley, you already know how hard our relationship's been—especially since we've been at school. Do you really think it can handle this much stress?" He buried his face in his hands, missing the shock and dismay that immediately crossed her features.

"Well, I'm sorry. I didn't realize how much of a burden it was for you to be with me. If you felt that way, why the hell didn't you just break up with me in Tree Hill? Were you just trying to beat Dan again? Prove you weren't going to leave the high school sweetheart high and dry? Congrats, Nathan, you never managed to knock me up so you can stop feeling obligated to hang around!" Haley made for the door but he quickly grabbed her wrist and spun her back into his chest. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that but you think I haven't been stressed too? It's practically made me sick to keep this from you," she mumbled into his shirt, feeling even guiltier.

Nathan held on tightly even as she huffed and puffed, making half-hearted attempts to pull away. Internally, he rolled his eyes at the last statement. That certainly explained a lot about the last few weeks. Dumb girl would rather make herself sick and worry them both than speak up. "Then you shouldn't have," he spoke tiredly, getting another mumbled apology. "How in hell did me being upset that we're going to have an ocean between us turn into…this?"

"When I said stress, I meant stress for me. I don't know if I can stand being away from you for that long. I'm almost positive I can't. And I know we've only been together two and a half years but I don't think I can function without knowing you're behind me every step of the way. I don't know if I can keep from killing all those stupid groupies and everyone who'll say it's okay if I cheat because, hey, you're not here and you'll never know." Haley gave a visible full-body cringe at the last statement and he tightened his hold. "I'm not saying I even want to and I definitely won't. But I already know what everyone else is going to say and expect and I don't want to deal with their bullshit."

"It's going to be hard, really hard, especially once the season starts. I'll have a shit day and want you and I'll have to settle for a phone call or an email. I can't keep you tied to me forever. You're so much better than that and you're going to do so many great things but that doesn't mean I don't want to. I know you need to find yourself, but I hate that it means being apart from me. You're worth it now, Hales. And I can't imagine you getting any better but when you find whatever part of you that's 'missing', I'll be more than happy to benefit from that, too."

Haley gave a watery smile, pressing a hand against his heart. "Has anyone told you that you're kind of perfect, Nathan Scott?"

"Only because you helped me get there," he smiled softly down at her, brushing back a few loose strands of hair. "We're going to be okay, right?"

"If either of us has anything to say about it, hell yes."

She gripped tightly to Lydia's hand as they strolled through the Raleigh airport. It felt more like a death march than anything. Jimmy was parking the car and would meet them at the security gate and she had a fleeting worry that he wouldn't be able to make it.

They had made arrangements almost four months ago for her to leave from the Raleigh airport. It was a compromise so that he wouldn't have to drive all the way home from school just to see her off. With the situation as it was, Haley wasn't entirely sure he would show up. Her parents had also insisted on being about four hours earlier than her flight, worried since it'd be her first time out of the country. She was sure that if Nathan did show, it'd be at the last second and after multiple hours of debating with himself.

Nathan sat on a bench just behind the international check-in of her airline, legs splayed, arms crossed, and looking just as surly as his high school days when Dan ruled with an iron fist. She let out a quiet sob at seeing him there and his head turned faster than if he'd been whiplashed.

The next thing Haley knew, she was wrapped tight in his hard arms, almost crying openly as her mom whispered a few words of comfort before stepping to the side with her suitcases. "You're here?"

"Of course, I'm here. You better not be all hugged up with some stranger," he muttered, arms wrapping tighter. He felt her shaking in his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You alright?"

Nathan could feel her head shaking 'no' against his chest and bit back the urge to tell her to stay. Her arms squeezed around his waist and she lifted her head, reluctantly pulling away. "Thanks for coming," Haley murmured, managing a small smile before taking her lower lip between her teeth. She leaned forward again, pressing her lips against his heart before retreating. "I didn't think you would."

His eyes softened as he caught her hand, tugging her closer again. "I'm sorry. We should—"

"Nathan, I'm getting on a plane in three hours and I'm not coming back for five months. Talking isn't going to change that," she rushed out, wincing when his expression fell. Out of the corner of her eye, Haley saw her dad approaching and again moved back, ignoring Nathan's look of frustration.

"Hey there kids," Jimmy greeted with slightly forced amiability. He slung an arm around Haley's shoulders before dropping a kiss on top of her head. "You all checked in, Haley Bob?"

"Yes, Jimmy, that's why I'm standing here with her suitcases," Lydia called from the sidelines. "Will you get over here and leave them be?" Her exasperated look was returned with a deep sigh and dragging feet from Jimmy as Nathan and Haley looked on with matching amused expressions.

Haley sighed before turning back to Nathan as he entwined their fingers. "Can we not argue? I'm just really happy you came."

He nodded slowly before swallowing hard. "Okay. Why don't you check in? I think your mom's losing her hearing trying to eavesdrop."

She quirked a smile before gesturing her parents over to the end of the line. Lydia quickly moved towards it while Nathan approached Jimmy. The older man offered a comforting pat on the back and urged Nathan to take the seat next to him. "Those James girls, huh? Feels like my heart's breaking every time one says goodbye."

"Not helping, Jimmy," he muttered, shaking his head lightly. Nathan heaved a sigh as he watched Haley, looking very much like she was about to face a firing squad.

"It'll be alright, Nathan. I know it'll be hard but if you wait, she'll come back. And if you're lucky, you'll never have to say goodbye again," Jimmy advised, letting out his own sigh when Nathan grunted in response. "It'll be alright, son," he repeated, giving a small wave when Haley suddenly turned around, as if she were expecting them to be gone.

Nathan stood as she returned, this time only a purse and laptop case in hand, and immediately wrapped his arms around her. "Unless you plan on carrying her to security check, you might want to let go," Lydia teased, smiling tightly when both their faces fell at her words. They dejectedly shuffled off towards the security line as she shared a look with Jimmy.

"With how long they'll be together, five months is barely a drop in the bucket."

"Alright, Romeo, give me the poison. Juliet's not dead; she's just not here," Jenna said, barging into the dark room without any warning. Rolling her eyes when Nathan used a few choice words to tell her to leave, she paused in the doorway, flicking on the fluorescent lights. "Wait, you have showered in the last three days right?"

"If I say no, will you go away?" Nathan grumbled from his pillow. He'd throw a shoe at her but he was pretty sure Jake and Haley would kill him for it. "Leave, Jenna, and leave Jake's key behind too."

"You boys don't lock your room. I didn't need a key to get in," she sighed, hopping onto Jake's bed across the room. "Seriously, Nathan, pull yourself together. Do you know how guilty Haley would feel if she knew you were acting like this?"

"Good, she should feel guilty. What the hell was she thinking leaving me here?"

"She should feel guilty? Is that why you keep acting like everything's just fine whenever you two email or webcam, which I might add is about three times a day? Worst broken up couple ever," she muttered lightly, a sympathetic smile overruling her tone.

Nathan cursed under his breath and the smile fell. "Damn it, Nathan. Why don't you do something about it instead of just sit here wallowing in your own misery? It's getting pretty pathetic," she arched an eyebrow before realizing he was still face down in his bed.

"Pathetic would be flying to another continent—which I'm sure is your idea of doing something—to chase a girl who broke up with me," he snarled, fists clutching the sheets.

Jenna grinned at his accuracy. "Just because it's a cliché, doesn't mean it won't work. Come on, picture it. She's sitting at a sidewalk café, you walk up, hands completely empty because you just had to see her, she cries tears of happiness, and five minutes later you're in her room, torturing a whole new roommate. It'll be just like old times."

"This coming from the girl who's been waiting over a year for my roommate to make a move?" Nathan shot back, grumbling into his pillow.

"If you had pulled your head out of your ass anytime this semester, then you'd know that Jake and I started dating a month ago," she replied quietly, obviously stung by his remark and lack of awareness. His head popped up and he turned to stare at her with a guilty expression, her eyes narrowing at the several days of scruff on his face.

Jenna sighed before playfully rolling her eyes. "It's fine, Nate. You don't have to apologize for being a crappy friend." This time his eyes narrowed at her and she waved him off, "Yeah, I know you weren't going to anyway, jerk. Okay, look, Haley thinks she's missing something and she may very well be right. I think she's going to have a hell of a time finding it without you, and obviously, you're not doing so great away from her either. It's hard to make the first move but isn't it harder to be without her?"

Finally, Nathan sat up on his bed, swinging his legs over the edge. "Get out, Jenna. I'm not going to say it again or any nicer."

"Fine," she scoffed, throwing herself off the bed and out the door. "Can't say I didn't try. Ass!"

Nathan just smirked.


	22. Tough Gets Going

Yes, yes, I'm an idiot. Real life got in the way, no better excuse than that. Will be finishing in the next two weeks or so before I dive back into classwork. Also posted two versions (one long, one short) of a new story if anyone wants to take a look. Oh and NBA player mentioned...no claims to him or his behavior.

* * *

"Coach, you got to let me go. This is…" Nathan ducked his head, trying to maintain eye contact with his coach who'd suddenly found a pile of paperwork on his desk riveting. "This is really important to me, Coach."

"And you don't think, Nate, attending team practice is? Do I need to remind you of the pressure we're up against this year? Like it or not, you're a leader on this team and I, and your teammates, need to know you're dedicated to us. There is going to be a national spotlight on us, one like you have never felt before, and we can't have you faltering, not for a second."

Nathan inhaled deeply, not wanting to lash out at the man who controlled his destiny for the next three years—not to mention a mentor he truly respected. "I understand all of that, Coach, and I'm willing to do anything to be a teammate and a leader. But I need this. It's…I can't explain it any better or simpler than that. I need to see her. I need her."

"A girl, Nate?" the coach shook his head sardonically. "Of all things, a girl?"

"Not a girl, Coach. My girl. My girlfriend of three years! The girl I'm going to marry if I have anything to say about it," he clenched his jaw tightly, watching his coach's eyes nearly bug out of his head. He knew the older man had spent his career around college basketball stars and he was willing to bet the man had heard said 'stars' speak in ways that would give their mothers heart attacks. Yet nothing seemed to have surprised the man more than the words that had just left his mouth.

Chuckling lightly, he dropped into his office chair. "Is that so, Nathan? You honestly believe you can commit to this girl for the rest of your life? Hell, the rest of your college career? I've seen relationships burn out quick and fast, I don't want yo—"

"Have you ever seen us together, Coach?" Nathan knew he had. Haley was a frequent visitor to their practice facilities and he had, on more than one occasion, slipped her 'backstage' for important games.

"Yes." No matter what the situation, the two always seemed completely aware of one another.

"There's your answer," he responded simply. "Look, I know I've been distracted lately and I know I haven't been there for the new guys as much as I could have. But if you give me this, just this one weekend, I promise I'll give you my all. You can run me up and down the court until I throw up and I won't say a word."

"You should always be giving your all, Nathan," the coach chided quietly. "I spoke with your father this morning."

Nathan could practically feel his heart drop to his feet. There was no way he'd be getting permission now. If even Dan Scott, unseen and miles away, could sense his performance slipping, there was no telling how poorly he must have been playing. It was also well known that the coach avoided speaking with his players' parents, wanting to treat them all equally—as adults. "You did, sir?"

"He wanted to be sure that the plane ticket he paid for was going to use," the coach then grinned at Nathan, trepidation still written all over his face. "I assured him that you were excused from practice until Tuesday morning. And that hopefully, once you could see for yourself that Haley is alive and well, you'd be with us one hundred percent."

"You told him that?" he questioned hurriedly. If Dan thought Haley was affecting his game, their next visit home would be nothing short of hellish.

"Nope, that's what he told me. I told him I didn't notice anything out of sorts with you," he returned casually, "Did you not hear me the first time? I don't want to see you until Tuesday morning, Scott. If you aren't playing one hundred percent right now, I better be mistaking you for Jordan when you get back."

With a quick "Thanks Coach!" Nathan took off from the office without looking back. If Jenna had done as requested, his car would be gassed and waiting in the parking lot by the athletic center. While his dorm was close to the main buildings of campus, it was far from the athletic facilities, and to avoid wasting time, he cashed in on a small favor from the blonde. He hoped she hadn't gone the extra step and packed herself into his carry-on. The girl seemed nearly as desperate for a Haley fix as he was. He shook his head at the thought. No one could beat him out on the 'wanting/needing Haley' thing. Assists, points, rebounds, free throw percentage sure, but never Haley.

* * *

"I really don't see how you're going to pull this off, Nate. Don't get me wrong. I completely believe in you two but I can't see…you don't even know whe—"

"Oh look security check. Got to go, big brother. Thanks for the vote of confidence," Nathan practically sneered, slamming the phone down on the conveyor belt. Last time he would ever call Lucas for encouragement. Who cared if he didn't have all the details? They were Nathan and Haley; it would work itself out.

* * *

He was growing listless, just parked on the narrow sidewalk in front of the aging building. For the fifth time in the same hour, he wondered if Pete's new girlfriend had given him the right address. She had done the same program last year and swore that they'd been using the same place for at least the past five years. The building looked lifeless to him.

Then again, he could have been at the wrong place. He'd simply handed the slip of paper with the address to the cab driver along with way more money than the ride could have possibly cost. The man definitely seemed to understand his instruction of 'drive fast.'

Another local shot him a questioning glance as they strolled past. He'd long stopped giving them polite smiles in return. As long as no one tried to steal his crap, he was okay with being the creepy tourist sitting on the sidewalk.

"Nathan?"

His head shot up at the familiar voice. Without a moment's hesitation, he stood and grabbed her in a bone-crushing hug, loving the way she giggled and threw her arms around his neck. God, he'd missed her. He dropped her to her feet before kissing her soundly, smirking at her enthusiastic response.

He was right. Lucas was wrong. What else was new?

"Nathan, wait, wait, wait." He felt her hands pushing gently at his shoulders and he reluctantly pulled back. "What are you even doing here? You have basketball, you can't—"

"You honestly think basketball is more important than today? There's nowhere else in the world I would be right now. Happy three years, baby," Nathan grinned wide at her shocked eyes and took the moment to kiss her again.

"Nathan," Haley cupped his cheek gently in her palm, "we broke up before I left. It's not our anniversary."

In spite of her words, he nuzzled slightly into her hand. "Hales, we talk practically every day, email constantly when we can't. We still end everything with "I love you." The only difference between us now and us before is that we don't have phone sex. Are you honestly trying to tell me you're happier without me? That your heart really was in this whole 'break up' business?"

"You know I can't, Nathan. But that's not the point. We broke up. You're not supposed to be here," Haley sighed quietly. "We're supposed to be growing up, learning new things, making new friends."

"We can do all those things together. I want to do all those things together. And I don't know about you but I haven't learned anything new. You're it for me, always will be. You could put half the world between us and it wouldn't change a damn thing," Nathan smirked at her pleased smile. For the first time, he took a good look at her and did a quick double take. Her hair had been dyed light brown and cut to just below her shoulders, falling in soft curls. If he hadn't heard her voice and felt her kiss, he might not have recognized her. "You look beautiful, baby. I'm sorry I didn't say it before. I was just so excited to see you."

"It's okay, Nathan. Thank you," she blushed prettily, dropping her eyes. As wrong as it felt, she had worried over his opinion of her new look, wondering how he'd react to it whenever they saw each other next. "We should go inside, Nathan. I don't want to have this conversation out in the street."

His smirk came instinctively. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Hales. You know where we're going to end up once we get somewhere even a little private."

"Fine, mister, there's a café down the street. Let's go," Haley huffed, unable to hide her deepening blush. She couldn't deny his words, just like she couldn't deny his earlier ones. They were never really broken up, or at least she had hoped, and seeing him now took away any thoughts that they were doing better apart.

Nathan smirked at her and she raised an eyebrow, "What now?"

"Just coincidence. Jenna daydreamed that you'd be at a café, I'd walk up, you'd melt in my arms, and we'd end up in your bed in under five minutes." He laughed when she turned redder and mumbled something under her breath while tugging him along the sidewalk. "I didn't catch that. What'd you say?"

"I said she's not far off," Haley enunciated, a defiant look in her eyes. Nathan simply ducked his head and kissed her again, loving that she grabbed his shirt to keep him in place. "Missed that," she murmured against his lips.

"Missed you," Nathan smiled as he straightened. "Let's go have that talk. We've got an appointment with your bed and for once I don't want to be late."

Haley chuckled in disbelief before hip-checking him. "That was really cheesy. And you can't even blame me for rubbing off on you."

Nathan simply shrugged before grabbing her hand and intertwining their fingers. He followed her into the building, dropping his duffel bag where she indicated on the couch. She waited for him by the door, holding it open, obviously unwilling to venture further inside what he assumed was an empty house. At least no one had answered when he spent ten minutes knocking earlier.

"What are you doing?" Nathan teased, purposefully staying over by the couch. "I'm just that damn irresistible, huh?" he smirked at her rolled eyes. He pushed up his sleeves, glad he'd worn the blue button-down she loved even though it'd wrinkled on the flight.

Haley's eyes flashed with the combination of irritation and lust he loved and he fought back the smirk. "You got me. You're just too sexy," she deadpanned, trying to ignore his forearms and his exposed collarbone peeking out from behind his unbuttoned collar.

He scoffed at her response and approached slowly, eying how she tried to shrink into herself to avoid contact. "Let's talk here, Hales," Nathan murmured lowly, pushing the door closed and backing her against it. "I don't want to share you with anyone else right now."

Haley smiled, gathering her confidence. It'd been far too long since she'd been this physically close to the man she loved. Instead of replying, Haley brushed his shirt collar open and pressed her lips to his breastbone, briefly sneaking her tongue out. When he groaned and shivered, she pulled away smirking, "Sorry, couldn't resist."

Exhaling deeply, Nathan tried to pull his thoughts together. Haley absentmindedly licked her lips and he gave her a dirty look. She was being far too distracting and if he had his way, they'd be doing it against the door before she uttered another word. "We're better together, Hales. There's no way you can deny that. Hell, I'm best when I'm with you. Maybe that's a one-sided thing and maybe it's selfish that I want to stay together but—" She cut him off by grabbing the collar of his shirt and dragging his lips down to hers.

"Are you still trying to win me back, you dolt? I should be thanking you for coming over here and pulling my head out of my ass. My immediate reaction to seeing you was just "oh thank God!" That was the saddest, most pitiful attempt at a break up ev—" He cut her off by the same means, smirking when she followed him on her tiptoes.

"Can we please go to your room now?"

* * *

"I have to ask," Nathan halted, nervously tracing the hand she had rested on his bare chest for reassurance, "Did you ever—I mean, you're the one who suggested this break up?"

Haley took a deep breath, knowing exactly what he was asking of her. "I tried. I thought I should since I was the one who initiated it. I mean, what was the point of trying to break up with you if I wasn't even going to—anyway, one of the girls from Boston knows another group of students here with a different university so we went out with them a few times. A guy from there asked me out. I said yes at first but cancelled before."

"Why?" he murmured after a quick sigh of relief. It hurt, knowing she had considered it, but he was just grateful it had never gone past that.

"I told him that I'd had a long term boyfriend back home. We broke up before I left but I wasn't ready to try dating. He was nice about it," Haley shrugged lightly. "I didn't tell him that I probably would never be ready to date someone who wasn't you." She rolled her eyes flippantly at his cocky smirk and briefly pushed her lips to his. "How about you?"

"No, not really," Nathan mumbled out, briefly considering sugar-coating events. "I tried a few times. Normally, I'd just get wasted and let girls think they had a chance. Jake and Jenna would follow me around and stop anything before it got out of hand. The first time Petey saw a girl all over me he gave me a black eye, threatened to call you and kill me," he chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Sobered me up pretty quick."

He finally chanced a glance down at her and sighed when he saw she was staring across the room. "I'm sorry. Jake and Jenna shouldn't have done that, Pete too. We were broken up. You should have had the opportunity to be with other people."

"Hales, that wasn't me trying to be with another person. That was me, drunk and bitter over you being gone, trying to telepathically piss you off by having some girl hang all over me," he slid down on the bed till he could meet her face to face. "Look, Jake, Jenna, Pete, everyone else who put up with my drunk self and refused to let me hurt you, they all did me a favor. If anything had happened, I would have hated myself, never been able to get over it, wouldn't be here right now, who knows what would have happened when you came home."

"We were broken up. You could have—" Though her voice caught in her throat, Haley was quick to reassure him through a pained smile. Jenna had made some slips about Nathan's behavior in her correspondences and Haley was just grateful they'd been as anti-climatic as Jenna had brushed off and less panic-inducing than her nightmares.

"Doesn't matter. It would have been cheating to me. Hell, to most everyone, it would have been cheating. At school, only Jake and Jenna know that we "broke up." The rest of them just think you're abroad and I'm being a dick about it," he laughed quietly, "On the other hand, none of the guys think me having a girlfriend is a bad thing anymore. Apparently, I'm a special brand of asshole when you're not around."

Haley rolled her eyes quickly. "I could have told them that," she quipped, punctuating it with a long kiss. "Since I'm not going to be around for another month or so, we better make sure you get your Haley fix."

"You're such a dork," Nathan managed to snicker, laughing harder when she blushed red. "Yeah, I missed that," he pinched a cheek lightly. "But you're right. In fact, do you think there's someone I could pay to bring us food? I don't really plan on leaving this bed."

On cue, the floor creaked a bit and a door slammed, prompting Haley to jump out of bed and scramble for clothes. Nathan rolled his eyes in response and fell back onto the bed in defeat. No doubt the moans and groans of the old building were a good indicator of people being about. "Hurry up," she tossed at him, along with his jeans that came flying at his head.

"I take it people are home," he grumbled, pulling his shirt over his head.

"Yeah and you should probably meet them," Haley grinned and he couldn't help but return it. She always loved showing him off and that definitely went both ways. "And I should tell Kara she needs to sleep on the couch this weekend. Don't worry I did it for her the other weekend and I'll be super nice after to make up for the short notice."

"I really don't care what you have to do to make it happen, Hales," Nathan mumbled, securing his belt buckle before standing up for her inspection. He took in her mock-offended glare and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You owe me just a little for this bullshit in the first place."

Her eyes narrowed defensively but before she could retaliate the door swung open and a brunette came through. "Hey, Haley," she muttered, digging through her messenger bag but coming to a standstill at finding a large athletic shoe underfoot. "And Nathan Scott," she added with a slight grin. She let out an amused chuckle and backpedaled out of the room. "Bye, Hales and Nathan Scott. Oh, we're all going out to dinner so yeah." The door gave a decisive slam but not before her voice could be heard overlapping with the other housemates'.

Nathan glanced back at his girlfriend, who was the very special shade of red reserved for complete embarrassment. He immediately pulled her into his arms, receiving a thump on his chest for being unable to restrain his laughter. "I can't believe you made me get dressed for nothing."

"Whatever," Haley brushed off, trying to fan away her blush. "Unwrapping you is kind of fun," she teased, her hands finding their way to his belt buckle.

"Speaking of unwrapping things," Nathan segued clumsily, pulling her hands away from his lower body. He smirked at her 'Are you kidding?' look and retreated to his duffel bag. "I got you a present. Before you say that I didn't have to, just open it," he implored, handing her the small box that couldn't be mistaken for anything else.

"It's not a promise ring, okay? I know you don't like those," he interjected hastily when she pried open the box. "And I'm not crazy enough to propose to you right now but, I don't know, after all this I just wanted to get you a ring. It's your birthstone," he finished with a mumble, a hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"I see that," Haley observed dumbfounded. "You didn't have to," she added obligatorily, "but I do love it. You've bought me jewelry before; I'm not going to automatically assume it means something more just because it's a ring."

Nathan sighed when she wrapped herself into his arms, easily fitting into his frame, "I know. But with everything we've been through, it felt like bringing you a ring now might seem like I'm trying to say something more. I'm not, okay? It doesn't have to mean anything more."

"Could it?" she questioned suddenly, tilting her head back to take in his flustered expression. Nathan glanced down in a panic and then pinched her side. "I'm not joking, Nathan," Haley clarified. "You're right. Getting through this does seem like a big step. I don't know if that's because of how little we know or how little time we've been together compared to, you know, people who've really stuck it out. But this? You and me? It's not going away. Should this mean something more?"

"Haley James, this is not the ring I'm proposing to you with. Just so you know," Nathan muttered. "That's about the only response I've got."

Her laugh couldn't be held in. "I don't blame you. So. It's a ring from you. You're staking a claim," she grumbled to his enthusiastic nodding, "but it's not an engagement or promise ring. Right hand, then? I can deal with that. What about my claim?"

"Your claim?" Nathan returned with a quirked smile, liking how she immediately pressed herself against him. "Oh, you're feeling possessive, is that it?"

"Yep, I'm assuming I'm expected to wear this just about every day as some sort of sparkly deterrent. Like "Oh, look, what my wonderful, sexy boyfriend gave me! It's like we're practically engaged!" Question is what are you going to be doing for me?" This time her hands successfully undid his belt, moving on quickly to his jeans.

"Um," his mind blanked as she quickly whipped his shirt over his head. "You could just," Nathan gestured up towards his neck after she pushed him back onto her bed, "I mean, that ought to work for a few days and I really don't care who sees. You know, until we find a more permanent solution."

Haley grinned instantly, "Works for me."

* * *

"I've actually got a present for you too," Haley wrapped herself in his jacket before moving to her closet. She pulled out a basketball and tossed it to him, nearly hitting the lamp on the bedside table. "Sorry," she mumbled, embarrassed, and perched on the foot of the bed.

Nathan spun the ball around until he noticed some black Sharpie by the brand name. "Derrick Rose?" he muttered, "You got this autographed? How?"

"We were out having lunch and the guys spotted him. I guess they were playing pre-season games here and he snuck away from the team to do his own sight-seeing," Haley shrugged, "I bribed one of the guys to run to a sports store and get a basketball while we kept him busy. He was pretty great about signing it, probably because Ben is a huge Chicago fan."

"This is great, Hales," Nathan enthused. "I can't believe you were thinking about me at a time like that."

"Hey," she returned, slightly offended before climbing into his lap. "I'm always thinking about you. I know I really pissed you off with this whole break and finding myself thing but that doesn't mean I stopped caring or loving you."

"I know," Nathan sighed reluctantly. "And I do understand it. When Dan stopped being Dan and started being Dad and my parents got divorced, it really threw me for a loop. A lot of things in my life that used to be givens were suddenly up to me and I didn't know how to cope or adjust to it. You helped me do that and it hurt a lot when I couldn't do the same for you. But I get that feeling and I don't blame you or anything like that."

Haley leaned forward and quickly kissed him. "Thanks, I really needed to hear that. And I'm sorry for not trying harder with…us."

"I needed to tell you that," he replied with a decisive nod. It had hurt, feeling inadequate, but he couldn't fault her for her identity issues. It just so happened that his idea of a lifestyle change was to have a stable relationship and Haley's was to be on her own. "And I don't know. I _hear_ there are couples that get sick of each other after a while. I thought maybe that was happening with you…I'm just glad you didn't stop talking to me or anything."

"Trust me, you'll know if I get fed up with you but I couldn't stop talking to you, Nathan. Way to go the clingy, dependent route, but sometimes things don't feel real until I've shared it with you," Haley shrugged lightly, pleased when he nodded in agreement. "So back to Derrick Rose," she hedged with a huge smile, "I told him you were my boyfriend, you know, just in case he might have heard of you. And he had!"

Nathan shook his head in denial, "Hales, he was probably being polite. But I like the boyfriend part."

"In my heart, you were never anything else," she swooned dramatically. "But, really, he said he only has time to follow March Madness now and he was really impressed with how you guys had underdog wins in the first two rounds and how you were the stats leader in both. He said he looked forward to seeing you play in the Association soon."

Haley couldn't contain her delighted laughter when his face lit up like a kid on Christmas. "Damn, this is like the best day ever," he practically giggled, all but bouncing up and down on the mattress. "I get you back, we have incredible sex—like always," Nathan took a moment to waggle his eyebrows at her blush, "and a pro player—superstar—thinks I'll make it to the NBA. Can't wait to tell Dad. I think he'll be a lot less pissy about me skipping practice and paying for my airfare."

"So it all works out," Haley stated with a relieved smile. "Honestly, I had no idea what to get you, or if you'd even keep it. I figured you at least wouldn't throw away a ball signed by a "superstar." Sell it maybe, but trash it definitely not."

"I haven't gotten rid of a single thing you've given me," Nathan returned, "And I know for a fact you still have that Cracker Jack bracelet I gave you."

"It was the first time you were sweet to me," she defended. "Granted you were trying to either piss off Luke or get in my pants. But still first time I could recall you not being an asshole."

"Both," Nathan admitted with a smirk. "Speaking of Luke, next time you talk to him because I won't for a while, can you just point out how much of an asshole he was for telling me I shouldn't have come here?"

Haley grimaced slightly and turned her face into his shoulder. "I'm sure he was just trying to keep you from hurting more. It was a pretty gutsy move coming out here in the middle of the season and the semester," she patted his chest briefly, knowing they both thought it was worth it. "Luke hasn't really been happy with me," she admitted reluctantly, "He thought this whole break up was bullshit and that I was hurting us both just because I was feeling insecure."

"He's an ass," Nathan growled out, hugging her tightly to him. He pressed a kiss into her hair before sighing, "Needs to mind his own damn business."

"He was just being protective of you. He knew how upset you were and it was pretty obvious I was the one causing it. And this break up was kind of bullshit. I mean, we lasted what? Ten weeks apart?" Haley chuckled self-deprecatingly. She'd never admit it but her thoughts had strayed to trying to take a weekend home. Aside from not being able to afford the ticket, she knew she was supposed to be taking trips all over Europe and not thinking about heading home. The word pathetic came into mind.

A door slammed downstairs and they groaned in disappointment, sharing a short smile before getting up and dressing.

* * *

"Did she give you the ball?" Kara questioned with a conspiratorial smile. She nudged Ben lightly and he chuckled quietly while Nathan nodded 'yes' in confusion. "Did she tell you he was hitting on her?"

"He was not!" Haley exclaimed with a gasp, turning quickly to take in Nathan's shocked expression. "He wasn't," she insisted to him, stretching a leg out to kick Kara and missing by a mile. "You're unbelievable…not to mention delusional," she muttered and glared at a still-laughing Ben.

"Was he?" Nathan questioned with a grin, receiving a confirming nod from Ben. "I don't know if I should be jealous or flattered."

Haley sputtered before pinching his leg, "Uh, try disbelieving. He's a professional basketball player who gets paid millions. I highly doubt he needs to resort to hitting on college girls, who barely have any idea who he is. I'm sure he was just being polite."

"I don't know, Hales. You're hot. I'd hit on you," Nathan replied, matter of fact. He pressed a kiss to her reddening cheek and smirked when she turned to hide her face in his shirt. "Was he upset when he heard about me?"

"He looked a little down. I mean, there I was spouting off all his stats and what's he paying attention to? Haley. Who's going on and on about how she has to have his autograph and how he just can't leave until he signs a ball for her. Takes Alex like fifteen minutes to get back with one and after all that, she tells him it's for you. Guy looked pretty put out."

"Like someone kicked his puppy," Kara interjected with a snicker.

"I'm about to kick you," Haley muttered and rolled her eyes when Kara mouthed the words "All talk" to her. Ignoring her, Haley changed the topic swiftly, "What are you guys up to tonight?"

"Oh Gretchen thought it'd be cool to hop on the train and head to France, so we're going to do that," Ben offered with a small shrug.

"Really? Like right now?" Haley questioned, slightly alarmed.

"Yeah, sure, why not? We'll take the night train, get to Paris in the morning. It'll be an adventure," Kara smiled. "We'll be back Sunday night."

Haley eyed them suspiciously, "Uh huh, well as long as you guys are careful and safe."

"We will be," Ben assured, "We're going to go pack. You guys have fun this weekend." He got up and helped Kara to her feet. "It was cool meeting you, Nate," he enthused, an awed smile on his face.

They settled onto the couch, utterly exhausted from the events of the day but especially the last few hours. She must have dozed off on his shoulder because Haley woke to Nathan gently nudging her. Her housemates were filing out the door with sly glances and some encouragement to enjoy the weekend.

"See, they're nice," Haley mumbled sleepily, a hand coming up to wipe at her eyes.

"Yep."

"Bedroom?"

"Yep."

* * *

"So did you find it?"

"No, I don't think so. Being here is great and it makes me feel more…rounded, I guess. But I'm not sure I'll ever find it and maybe that's a good thing. It'll keep me challenged and ambitious," she shrugged her shoulders at him, "Does that make any sense?"

"A little. Is it like me not being the greatest basketball player ever but that's okay because it gives me something to work toward?" Nathan joked. He knew exactly what she was talking about. Haley was too smart, too talented, too everything. She was always going to want and deserve more in life. It was what used to scare him so much about being with her before he finally accepted that she wasn't going to leave him. Well, at least not for forever.

"Well, I think you're the greatest," she asserted, leaning up to press her lips to his.

"Well, you used to think I scored touchdowns," he teased, grinning when she slapped at his shoulder. "But, yeah, your opinion's about the only one that matters so that works for me. Just promise me you won't leave me behind again. I was kind of a wreck without you."

"I have a feeling I couldn't shake you if I tried," Haley teased right back, reflecting his previous grin when he nodded vigorously. "And I definitely don't want to so, yeah, lesson learned."

The cab pulled up and she hugged him tightly, her arms nearly squeezing the life out of him. "I'll see you at home?" Nathan questioned, helping her wipe the tears that quickly fell.

"Can't wait," Haley smiled. "I love you. Thank you for being the bigger person."

"Nothing to it. I figured we'd get back together sooner or later, and later just didn't work for me. I love you, too," he finally responded, kissing her one last time. Nathan slid into the cab, directing the driver to the airport, and turned to watch her out of the back window. Her smile was watery but still there as she waved weakly.

Now he just had to last two more months.


	23. The Return

"You're pathetic."

Nathan half turned and glared at the muffled chuckles coming from Haley's older siblings, not even Jimmy and Lydia could keep the grins off their faces. His eyes narrowed before returning to the Arrivals board. He rocked back on his heels again, scanning the terminal for a petite brunette.

Hah. At least he'd be the first to recognize her. None of the others had seen her new hairstyle.

Twenty minutes ago the screen had changed the status of her flight from 'On Time' to 'Arrived' so where the hell was she? He really couldn't stand to be around the protective older brothers and mocking older sisters for much longer without her. Not to mention how the last time seeing her had brought up serious considerations about marrying into this family. Then again she'd have to deal with Dan, Deb, and that whole mess of the Scott side of his family.

He marched up to the large screen and then back to her family. Damn it, she should have been home two weeks ago. But, no, they arranged some ridiculous tour of the entirety of Western Europe or something and when would she get another chance? After all, he'd be stuck at school with games and practice anyway. Should have just demanded that she get on a plane and into his bed.

"There," he muttered, catching the attention of Lydia who strained her neck in the direction he was staring. Nathan moved through the crowd as quickly as he could, for once hating how his wide frame hindered his agility.

"Hi baby," he caught her face in his hands and immediately sealed his lips to hers, causing her to nearly drop her purse in response. Haley let out a muffled shriek in surprise before practically climbing up his body with his help.

"Nice, Nate, make out with some other girl in front of your girlfriend's family," Quinn teased, smacking his shoulder to stop the public affection. "Mom! Dad!" she whined next, laughing near uncontrollably when Haley flipped her the bird without breaking the kiss.

Haley finally released him with a tight hug, peeking over his shoulder to find not one, but two of her older brothers, glaring disapprovingly. "Oh get over it," she mumbled with not near enough conviction. "Mommy! Daddy!" Haley exclaimed making a big enough production out of that reunion for her brothers to give up and join in.

"Holy hell, it's like looking at twins," Taylor shuddered, when Quinn grabbed Haley in a bear hug. "You're going back to blonde. I can't deal with this and who knows? Nate here might just start kissing the wrong James girl." When she received a number of frowns in return, she held up her hands defensively. "What? I saw you take a basketball to the head in that last game. I just don't want to make life any more difficult for you."

"Shut up, Taylor. Haley looks gorgeous," Nathan smiled at her, receiving practically a beam of light in return.

"Gorgeous, huh? Guess that ball jumpstarted your brain. I didn't think your vocabulary went past hot and do-able." The brothers cringed on queue and Taylor chuckled when they glared at Nathan as if he had said the words.

"Alright, let's just go to baggage claim. I think murder at an airport's a federal crime or something," Haley muttered, poking Taylor in the side as she went to link arms with Robbie and Adam. "And seriously were this many people necessary to come pick me up?"

"We're your family," Robbie justified. "And we missed you at Thanksgiving. It's not our fault we couldn't shake stalker-boy over there," he nodded at Nathan who was hot on their heels. "Kidding," he mumbled at his sister's dirty look. "We missed Nate too," he grumbled unwillingly.

"Pansy," Adam fake-coughed into his free hand, copping a dirty look from his little sister. "Yeah, missed you _so much_, Nate," he muttered sarcastically.

It took all of his training, his fear of the James brothers three, and the shared quality of being wrapped around Haley's finger to keep Nathan from smirking.

* * *

"I thought you guys broke up," Adam commented cheerily from the backseat.

It'd taken a tussle with the James sisters but Nathan had convinced Taylor and Quinn to let Haley ride home with him. Unfortunately, Adam had climbed into the backseat before either of them could do anything about it. Jimmy and Lydia just smiled peaceably, grabbed their other children and Haley's suitcases, and took off.

"We worked it out," Haley grit out from between her clenched teeth. Nathan's hand clenched hers tightly, where they were resting intertwined on the armrest, and she had to nudge his elbow to loosen his grip. "Don't bring it up again, Adam," she warned steadily, "And you can pass that on to the rest of the boneheads I call my siblings."

Nathan glanced in the rearview mirror and found the brunette chuckling lightly. Unfortunately for Haley, all of her siblings found her anger amusing. Well, until a certain point, then they all ran for their parents. "Sure thing, Haley Bob. I'll mention it to them."

"Are Connor and Viv going to be dropping by soon? I haven't seen them in ever," she questioned, twisting in the seat to face her brother.

"Well, maybe you should have thought of that before you hopped the pond," Adam teased with a light smile. "Viv said Christmas for sure but probably not for very long. They don't want to have to pack all the supplies for Henry. I don't know about Con. He's trying to suck up to Alyssa's family so he might not be coming down."

Adam rolled his eyes at the last part and laughed when Haley poked her tongue out at him. Of the boys, Adam was definitely the wild child, though ironically he and Taylor seemed to get along the least. The concept of bending over backwards to please someone else was entirely lost on him.

"Commitment-phobe," Haley teased, grinning at the sour look on his face.

"Don't blame me," he defended, "In-laws suck."

Nathan couldn't help himself and smirked, mumbling under his breath, "Yeah they do." At both Haley's and Adam's meaningful looks, he sighed, "What? Like you're so looking forward to having Dan Scott as your father-in-law?"

"Whoa! Wait a damn moment!" Adam exclaimed suddenly, catching the drift of the conversation. Immediately, his eyes zeroed in on the new ring, Haley's hand gripping the headrest to hold her turned around during their conversation. "Is that? Which hand is that?"

"Will you calm the hell down, man?" Nathan seethed under his breath, missing Adam's last question as he corrected the car which had jolted in his surprise. "You're going to make me crash if you keep yelling like that. Damn it, Hales, sit in your seat right."

"It's my right hand and it's not what you're thinking, Adam. Yes, sometimes we refer to being married in the future. It's not something that's going to happen today or tomorrow but we know it will eventually, so sometimes we make comments like that, okay?" Haley bit out, reluctantly turning in her seat when Nathan's hand pressed insistently into her shoulder.

Nathan, having caught onto the topic, wisely stayed silent. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly and Haley pried one hand away to hold in her own. This was not a conversation he foresaw happening now or wanted to happen ever. Next to Connor, Adam was the brother who liked him the least. Robbie was too close to Haley to ever be anything short of supportive and accepting of all her decisions, including him.

"No, it's not okay," Adam muttered crossly, arms folding over his chest. "But my opinion's not going to change things is it? You've been dating for what? Three years? It's longer than a lot of couples your age but you don't know anything yet. You're kidding yourselves if you think you do." He ignored the way Haley's back tensed and straightened.

The rest of the ride, only twenty excruciating more minutes, passed in silence. Nathan pulled up to the curb in front of the James house, the driveway already full of cars, including the one the others had taken.

Adam unbuckled his seatbelt and was half way out the door before he paused. "I'm not going to say anything to Connor…but it's probably a damn good thing he's not going to be around. Do us all a favor and don't bring this up again. Not for a damn long time." He slammed the door forcefully and Haley let out a shuddering breath while he walked away muttering.

"I always knew he didn't like me," Nathan commented after a moment or two. Haley snorted in response before leaning her head against his shoulder. "Glad we got that cleared up."

"Adam doesn't like any of our boyfriends or you know equivalents. He still can't really stand Eric and he and Viv are married and have a kid. Who Adam adores. He's not exactly…whatever, I just can't believe he started in like that right now and in front of you," Haley blew out. "Ridiculous."

"Yeah, well, Connor hates me, too, so it's not like it's just him," Nathan chuckled. "Hales, it's fine. I don't expect your brothers to like me. I'm dating their little sister. Hell, I'm planning on marrying their little sister and we can't even legally drink. They're just freaked or something…it'll get better eventually." He turned to look at her and was met with her lips pressing against his own.

She was smiling as she pulled away and he edged forward for another quick kiss. "I can't believe he thought that was an engagement ring," Nathan blurted out suddenly. "Come on, the one I'm going to get you? You're going to need a crane to hold your hand up, just saying."

"Nathan," Haley warned, her eyes rolling at his over-the-top proclamation.

"Fine," he muttered, "It'll be simple and elegant, just like you." She beamed at his correction and squished his face between her hands before attacking his lips.

"Is it weird? To be nineteen and talking like this?" Haley murmured, gaze floating towards her front door and the windows facing the street. "Crap, we have company," she pulled away, spotting Quinn or her mom peeking through some curtains.

"I don't know," Nathan responded honestly. "I'm just glad we're on the same page. I know we're not getting married anytime soon but I want it to happen. I'm a little relieved you want it too."

"More than anything," she replied sweetly. "I should go, I guess. I'd love to stay here and make out with you but it's broad daylight and I don't think my family or the neighbors would appreciate that. Come over tomorrow?"

"Yeah, of course. We only have two weeks," he reminded her. Then it was back to campus for practices and their first conference game. There was a slight possibility he could convince her to come along if they could figure out how to hide her in his dorm room. "What time?"

Haley shrugged, door opening. "Whenever. I doubt you'll wake up before me."

"Hales, do you even know what time it is? You're going to be jetlagged and tired."

"I'll wake up to spend time with you," she assured him, leaning in for one more kiss before sliding out of the car.

* * *

Nathan stood on the sidewalk in front of the house, staring up at her window. He picked up a pebble and chucked it, grinning slightly as it solidly made contact with the glass. It was early, for him, but she hadn't answered her cell phone when he'd called a few minutes ago. Even if she was still sleepy, he'd be more than happy to climb up to her bedroom and catch a few more hours in her bed. Just the thought of sleeping with Haley draped all over him sounded like heaven.

The front door opened and Adam all but stormed out, Nathan resisting his initial urge to run down the street. "She's in the shower. You can use the front door," he tersely informed him, grabbing the newspaper at the end of the driveway.

Nathan wandered into the house, ill at ease there for the first time since his first visit. He settled onto a stool at the kitchen counter and grimaced slightly at the realization that Adam had followed him into the room.

"Undefeated, huh?" he questioned, dropping the Sports section with a front page picture of Nathan on the counter space in front of him.

"Yep," Nathan answered, pushing the paper away. Undefeated and closing in on the school record. It was the second most pressured he'd ever felt, apart from the State Championship, and did not need the reminders now or ever in the next two weeks. All he wanted was Haley and some damn room to breathe.

"Let's get this out of the way," Adam muttered. "I'm not sorry for what I said yesterday but I should have phrased it better. I don't like the idea of my baby sister talking about marriage when she's not even out of college. I think it's completely unreasonable to actually know what you want out of life at your guys' age. If you two can work it out then I'm damn happy for Hales, but at this stage it's ridiculously premature and just plain ridiculous to talk like that and think it'll all work out. It's nothing against you personally. Haley's the sweetest girl in the world and there are guys who would take advantage of that. You don't and I appreciate it. It's just…this is too serious too soon and I think you're setting yourselves up for failure."

Nathan blinked in surprise. "Oh, okay."

"That's all you've got?" he heaved a sigh in disbelief.

"I don't know! Haven't we had this…conversation before? I'm a piece of shit, she deserves better, and you'll kill me if I hurt her?" he blew out. "What's changed? I still love her. I'm still trying my hardest not to hurt her. In case you're forgetting, she broke up with me earlier, temporarily," Nathan interjected, flustered, "I was the one who fought to get us back. I don't know what you want me to say. We want to be together. Forever. It's not our fault we figured things out faster than most people."

"Hell, our two roommates from freshman year just got together this year and they liked each other all of last year and knew it. Haley and I don't play games like that. We tried the being apart thing. We couldn't even last three months. You're just going to have to get used to forever because I can't live without her."

"Do you golf, Nate?" Adam pushed off the stool, heading for the refrigerator. He grabbed the milk and chocolate syrup, mixing them together before shoving the mug in the microwave.

"What?" Nathan near stuttered out. He really hated older brothers, his own notwithstanding.

"Do you golf? We normally go on a golfing weekend every summer. I don't think Eric's going to be coming this year with the new baby and all but Sean will," Adam returned casually, punching in the numbers on the microwave. He hit the start button before returning to his seat, opening up the newspaper.

Nathan watched the numbers count down for a few seconds before coming to. "But you don't—"

"Like Eric or Sean? Well, no, not in front of the girls. It's an arrangement. I still get to be the annoying protective brother who gives my sisters a hard time and Eric and Sean get Viv and Quinn off their backs whenever we're around. They just remind them how they put up with me and Connor and then they don't have to do the dishes or take out the trash or whatever," he explained, chuckling at the stunned expression on Nathan's face. "So do you golf?"

"I suck at it," Nathan admitted, "but I can try to work around practice and come." Adam nodded and told him to talk to Jimmy about the dates. The only sound in the kitchen was the microwave beeping as Nathan tried to wrap his head around what had just happened. "Wait, so you and Connor don't hate me?"

"Well, I don't. Connor does though," Adam answered truthfully as Nathan grimaced at him.

"Don't take it personally. Con's a good guy and he's been dating—engaged to, whatever—Alyssa for too long. He's a little out of touch with the fact that most guys don't treat girls like he does or you do. So yeah he thinks Hales deserves better. Haley probably could find someone who's smarter and less of an asshole and doesn't have sluts chasing him around—" he cut off, noticing a vein on Nathan's forehead throbbing. "My point is you realize these things and you treat Haley the way she deserves to be treated, the way a lot of guys wouldn't. Connor doesn't see it but I'm an asshole so I know how things could be going."

"Thanks?" Nathan mumbled unsurely. He already knew Robbie, Adam, Connor and probably even Taylor thought Haley could do better than him. They were probably right. But Adam was right, he'd be damned if he did anything—on purpose—to let Haley realize it and that meant treating her as best he could. Not to mention chasing her across the damn ocean.

Adam shrugged, head popping up when they heard footsteps on the stairs. "Haley Bob, your milk's in the microwave."

She eyed the two of them suspiciously, dropping her jacket on the back of a chair. "Thanks?" Haley mumbled, giving Nathan a questioning look. He just shrugged and leaned closer to press a kiss to her forehead. "Good morning, you're early. For you."

"Couldn't wait to see you," Nathan returned sincerely, smiling at her.

Haley retrieved the mug from the microwave, taking a sip. "Were you playing nice Adam?" Her brother responded with a shocked expression as if to say "Who me?" "Yeah right. Nathan?"

"Uh, yeah, of course," he replied reluctantly, giving Adam an unsure sideways glance. Haley caught the look and sighed, placing the empty mug in the sink. "What?" he smirked at her.

"Nothing to do with you. I just hate that my brothers are such assholes to the guys in our lives," she muttered, shooting Adam a dirty look when he just grinned in response. "You ready to go?"

Nathan hadn't even responded before she took him by the hand, leading him to the front door. "Hey, slow down, what's the rush?"

"Nothing, sorry. I'm just a little pissed at Adam after the way he acted yesterday. And for pretending like everything's okay this morning," she began gesturing wildly and Nathan caught her hands, laughing.

"Calm down, tiger. He apologized, sort of," Nathan hedged, helping her into her jacket. "I mean, it's the nicest he's been to me so far."

Haley grabbed onto his collar, pulling his lips down to her. He immediately relaxed into the kiss, forgetting that they were in a house full of her siblings. "Thank you," she smiled against his lips, pulling back at his confused expression. "For putting up with them. I know they can be a pain. Now what do you want to do today?"

"You're here. You think I care about anything else?" he answered sincerely, wrapping an affectionate arm around her shoulders as they walked to his car.

Her smile was wide and appreciative and she tugged him down for another kiss. "I love you. I'm so happy to be home and I'm so lucky I still have you," Haley stated surely, pressing a hand to his cheek.

Nathan sighed before leaning against his car and wrapping her tightly against his chest. Haley responded in kind, her arms slipping around his waist, and burrowed her head through the opening in his jacket, resting her ear against the soft cotton material above his heart. "I would have waited forever for this. For you."

"I don't deserve you, not after what I did to us," she mumbled softly into his t-shirt. Nathan chuckled heartily but quieted when he felt her lips press to his chest.

"I don't deserve you. You don't deserve me. We're pathetic," he grumbled, "Might as well be undeserving and pathetic together."

"Okay," Haley agreed easily. "If that's your reasoning for being with me, I'll take it," she teased, confused when he pushed her off his chest. One glance at his expression and she immediately cut off his protests, "I was joking. I know why we're together and I would have never settled for anything less. You're it for me."

Nathan grinned at her, leaning down for a brief kiss. "Come on, I'm hungry."

"Well, I don't know what you want me to do about that. Both of our families are home. It's the middle of the morning so your car is just not going to work. It's not like we have anywhere el—" Haley rambled, stopping herself when Nathan laughed and dragged her body up his for a long kiss.

Nathan released her breathlessly and smirked, "I meant actual food for once, Hales. But nice to know where your mind's at."

"Please, like you weren't thinking it," she murmured, slightly embarrassed that her mind had jumped there first.

"Oh, I'm always thinking about that with you," he returned, brushing his fingers over her reddening cheeks. "Let's go visit Karen. She's almost excited about you being home as I am. And since you obviously can't wait, maybe we can sneak up on the roof."

"Sounds like a great plan," Haley smiled broadly before swatting his butt and skipping around to the other side of the car. Nathan couldn't help the loud laugh, unlocking the car for her. They climbed in and she automatically reached for his hand, sighing softly when he rubbed his thumb across the back.

There was nothing like home.


	24. Draft

"Nathan! You will not hang up! Do you hear me?"

"Dad, I don't care. I can't think about this right now," Nathan sighed out, rubbing his temples furiously.

"You need to make a decision, Nathan. This isn't going to go away," Dan equally sighed, as if he didn't have his own headaches with the way the phone would not stop ringing. Then there was Deb, whose phone had also taken on a life of its own, but she didn't hold the same background knowledge as he did and was even more frustrated. What frustrated him the most was his own father, calling nearly every day to see if his grandson had made up his mind yet. The man was a downright menace.

"I have to go, Dad. I'm meeting Hal—"

Nathan didn't even get her name out before Dan cut him off. "Talk to her, Nathan. You're never going to decide if you don't at least talk to her. This is your future, son. I'm not going to watch it go down the drain."

He growled before ending the call, pressing his face into his hands. How the mighty have fallen. If any of his peers could see him now, they'd be downright disbelieving.

Fifteen weeks ago, people had been betting on when they would implode. The team was young and most anticipated them to be contenders in the next year or two. But the returning players had matured more than expected and the two highly anticipated freshmen had transitioned well and contributed more than anyone thought possible.

The end of the season had been ridiculous. In their best case scenario from the beginning of the year, they didn't come close to predicting reality. After winter break, they'd extended the school's undefeated record by two games. Following that, they ended the regular season with two losses and fought hard to win the conference championship. They coasted through the first two rounds of the NCAA and by some stroke of luck and hard work advanced all the way to the Final Four. There they lost out to the future champions but it was further than nearly anyone had predicted the Demon Deacons to go.

Now he sat under a national media spotlight. It was two weeks to the cutoff to withdraw from the draft and Nathan was the only projected top fifteen pick to be undecided. According to analysts, this was the best chance he had to go top ten, or even five, in the draft. The spotlight could easily, and most likely would, disappear by the next season. Two of his teammates had officially committed to the draft, two more starters would be graduating, and the incoming class wasn't half as good as last year's. With those kinds of personnel changes, there was no possible way they could repeat the success of the past season.

Top ten this year could fade into second round next year. If he waited for his senior year, it was almost guaranteed that his value would go down. The draft was incredibly individualistic but the team's season could have an impact on his draft stock, and there was just no guarantee they could make another run like the last season. Not to mention, if he stayed in college and got majorly injured, the NBA would be nothing more than a pipe dream.

Nearly every person he talked to, save his coaches, pushed for the NBA. Dan hadn't given his opinion one way or another, but Nathan knew what he was thinking. Deb, Haley, and a number of other people were likely holding a gun to his head just to keep his mouth shut. It didn't help that agents and team managers were hounding both his parents, hoping they'd be able to give them insider information on his decision.

They shouldn't have bothered. No matter what his decision came down to, it wasn't his parents he was worried about. Personally, he was more concerned with the petite brunette heading his way.

Haley slowed a few feet short of the bench he was sitting on. Her slim arms wrapped nervously around herself and he sighed out loud. He didn't blame her reluctance. Between the draft deadline and finals, he'd been short, snippy, and sometimes hostile with her. She'd done her best to bear it but his attitude and her inability to do anything about the situation were clearly frustrating her.

"Hi, baby," Nathan made an effort to smile at her and the shorts she was wearing due to the warming spring temperatures definitely helped with that.

She approached him then and cradled his face in her hands, dropping a kiss on his forehead. "You were looking all thoughtful. It was pretty sexy," she grinned at him, a hand running through her grown-out but still dark locks.

"Yeah?" He couldn't help the flirtatious smirk back, easily pulling her down onto his lap. They were both smiling when their lips met and he groaned quietly as her fingers scratched through his hair. "You feel so good," Nathan muttered, playing with the hem of her shorts. "I'm sorry," he apologized immediately when they broke for air.

Haley shook her head, a frown forming. "It's not your fault. You're just stressed out and for good reason."

"Well, it's not your fault I'm an indecisive ass, but that hasn't stopped me from—"

"What? Not being unfailingly sweet and loving for once? You are still," Haley caressed his cheek lovingly and automatically reciprocated his kiss. "You're also a major grouch and I've come to terms with that."

Nathan chuckled and buried his face in her hair, murmuring appreciatively at her hands that lightly massaged his neck. "Why can't it always be like this? Loving you is so damn easy. I hate when the rest of the world gets in the way of that."

"I like your sense of priority, Nathan Scott," Haley grinned, "Screw the NBA. We've obviously got more important things going on."

"We are more important," Nathan returned seriously, sighing when she averted her eyes. "We have to talk about this, don't we? Damn, you know I'm making a real mess of things with you when Dad is telling me to get my shit together."

"Tangent for a moment? Can you not avoid his calls so much? Because then he calls me and that's just a whole different level of awkward none of us want to explore," Haley shuddered slightly before sobering. "I've been waiting for you to come to me. I didn't want to pressure you."

"Someone needs to pressure me. Hell, can we just get someone to flip a coin and we'll run with that?" he questioned sarcastically, grimacing at her unimpressed expression. "I talked to more people today. It's highly unlikely I'd end up anywhere near the East Coast, Hales. I know Charlotte was our best case scenario but I'm talking like everything east of the Mississippi is just not going to happen."

"That's ridiculous," Haley scoffed, eyes shutting.

"I know, I'm sorry. There's always some kind of slim chance. There's always pre-draft and draft day trades for players or next year's picks but…I mean, that stuff's just not predictable or reliable. Or you know I could even be traded after. I basically can't bet on anything." She pressed her forehead to his shoulder and he ran his hands over her back comfortingly. "I could stay. I can't guarantee I'm going to have a season like this year's but—"

"No," Haley cut him off quickly. "You deserve to go top ten. Hell, I think you deserve to go number one. If this is the best chance you have for that, you need to take it. I can't and freaking won't let you second guess that for us."

Nathan nodded before cursing. "I just…I need to figure out how to stay near you, Hales. If I don't have you, I'm not sure how much I'm going to be worth to anyone after a few months."

It had been that way at the beginning of the season when she'd been abroad. He'd been almost mediocre in his playing. Thankfully, it'd been mainly exhibition and nonconference games with only a few challenges in the way. Once she'd gotten back, he'd set a new career high nearly every game, culminating in a near 24 points per game average.

"I've been thinking," Haley edged carefully, "It's not fair that you're the only one expected to make sacrifices for us. I mean, you should be celebrating this right now, Nathan. It's all you've ever wanted. And you can't because you're too concerned with what's going to happen to our relationship.

"I wouldn't say too concerned," he mumbled back, "I'm pretty sure this is a perfectly acceptable level of concern."

Haley sighed and rolled her eyes. "You know what I'm saying. And here's my solution: I can transfer schools."

"No!" Nathan shook his head forcefully, "You love Wake. Our friends are here. We're near Tree Hill. I bet there's no way you'll be able to transfer by the time the draft happens. I'm not letting you risk your education or uproot your life for me."

"Oh but you're allowed to base your future around me? Tell me, Nathan, if we weren't together, would you have any second thoughts at all about entering the draft?" Haley questioned with an arched eyebrow.

"Of course…not," he mumbled the last part, looking away guiltily. "But I wouldn't be here without you."

"Then at least let me explain," she implored, receiving a reluctant nod in response. "Even if it's too late to transfer, most schools will do a visiting semester and that only requires like a month for the application. After that, I'll be able to apply for a transfer with plenty of time left. I wouldn't be missing anything."

"But everyone's he—"

Haley shook her head instantly, "You're going to be packing up and leaving everyone too. Hell, if Tim can handle being on the other side of the country practically by himself, then I think I can manage being in, I don't know, Minnesota if you're there. And it's not like we're never going to see or talk to them again. There's email and the phone and holidays…"

Nathan sighed, relaxing his expression when she soothed over the lines in his forehead. "I just don't like the idea of you picking up your life to follow me. It's…you're so independent, Hales, and I love that and I don't want to take it away from you."

"This is my decision, Nathan. There are good schools all over this country. My GPA is damn good if I do say so myself and my extracurriculars are solid. I'm pretty damn sure I can get into a school just as good as Wake and you, sir, are going to have absolutely no say in that matter. How's that for independence?"

"You promise you'll stay in school?" Nathan felt the burden lift off his shoulders but the guilt settle in his stomach. If he managed to derail the plan she'd had for years, long before she'd ever met him, he would never forgive himself. Never mind how much her family was going to hate him.

Haley laughed, her arms tightening around his shoulders. "Are you scared I'm going to drop out, trap you with a kid, and become this harpy trophy wife?"

"Does that scenario include you being naked and free to have sex all the time? If so, go for it, sounds like a great plan to me," he smirked at her, waggling his eyebrows for effect.

"Did you not hear the part about a kid?" Haley joked, poking him in the side lightly.

"There're always nannies. We can play with them for a few years, you know after potty training but before the "I hate you! You're ruining my life!" crap. And then boarding school," Nathan summarized, taking in Haley's horrified expression. "I'm just saying between my parents and your parents? Keeping them away is probably doing them a favor."

"Them? You keep saying them," she teased, lightly.

"Well, yeah, our kids aren't going to be anything but damn good looking. Least we can do is gift the world with a couple of them," he responded, matter of fact. He broke out into an easy smile at Haley's giggling.

"You're absolutely ridiculous," Haley rolled her eyes, "but I love you anyway. So you're entering the draft?"

Nathan blew out a deep breath, eyes closing, "Say it again."

"You're entering the draft," she repeated confidently, grinning like a fool to match him. Nathan easily picked her up, Haley yelped in response before wrapping her legs around his waist, laughing as he spun them around.

"I'm going to be in the NBA, Hales," he beamed at her, popping a kiss on her cheek. "I get to keep you."

Haley brushed a hand through his hair lightly before kissing him soundly. "As if there was ever any doubt. Who do you want to tell first?"

"Well, you," Nathan returned matter of fact, "And that's…yeah I'm good."

"Okay, so your coaches or your dad first," she reasoned, "I know neither one is going to be particularly fun, but it has to happen. Maybe we'll start with Deb then. She'll be happy no matter what. Actually, on the other hand, she may not be so keen on the whole me following you thing. You know what? Luke! He's perfect."

"Yeah, you call Luke and I'll celebrate by ravishing you," Nathan suggested with a smirk. Her ramble immediately ended and she smacked him on the shoulder. "Kidding. I'm not risking that punishment again," he grumbled, well aware of what happened after the time he'd answered Luke's call while they were…intimate. "I guess I'll talk to Coach first. It's not really fair that I've kept him in the dark for this long."

"Alright, do you need me there?" Haley offered sweetly, chuckling when Nathan immediately shook his head.

* * *

"Wait, what was that last one?" Nathan repeated quickly. He glanced over at Haley, still passed out in his bed, and grinned brightly when his agent answered the question. "There. Man, I want to go there. Make it happen."

Nathan sighed loudly, "Yeah, I know the situation over there. I do watch basketball you know. I'm serious about this."

He paused, waiting for the older man's reply. Quickly, he turned on his computer and waited impatiently for the Log In screen to appear. "I know there's only so much you can control but I need you to make this happen, okay? I don't want to be an ass or sound spoiled but if there's one thing I want from this draft, it's that. I don't care about money or whatever."

"Thanks," Nathan hung up swiftly and scanned the web browser. He frowned heavily, not finding what he was looking for.

"Haley," he crawled up onto his bed, dropping kisses on her shoulder and neck, "Haley, baby, wake up."

"Nathan?" Haley mumbled sleepily against his lips. "What's going on? I'm tired, babe."

"I know you are," Nathan returned lowly. She'd been up nearly all night studying for her last final and had stumbled into his room with the intent of crashing not twenty minutes ago. "I need you to get up right now. You need to fill something out."

"What? No, come on, I'm done. I just need a little sleep," she yawned widely, covering her mouth with her hand, "Okay, a lot of sleep. Don't wake me up."

"Please, baby, I was talking to the agent," Nathan began, watching her eyelids drooping. "Alright long story short. Golden State wants me and they've got the number three pick. Babe, it's like an hour from Stanford and you need to apply now for a transfer. They don't have that visiting whatever and the deadline's in like three weeks," he pleaded, shaking her lightly.

Haley rolled over and mumbled into his pillow. "What?" Nathan prodded, shaking his head when she didn't budge. "Alright, come on." He easily lifted her into his arms, ignoring her sleepy protests, and carried her the short distance to his desk chair.

Settled in his lap, she finally began to stir. "What are you talking about?"

"Dallas, Golden State, and Oklahoma City," Nathan told her. "The agent, the one Dan set up, he said those are the three teams most interested in me and with the highest draft picks. Golden State's three, Hales, and they need a shooting guard like they need a new stadium. That means you can go to Stanford."

Haley rested a hand on his cheek, signaling him to be quiet, as she read the screen he'd pulled up. "Well, that's all good and well, babe, but I'd have less than three weeks to finish this application, get my transcripts, and get two references. I can do the first thing, the other two are kind of out of my hands."

"I could get your transcript," Nathan offered with a slight shrug at her suspicious look, "I can get someone to make sure you get your transcript." He chuckled when she grumbled under her breath about "spoiled athletes." "And come on your professors love you. I bet you can find five people to write you amazing recommendations."

"If I had more time, sure. But it's in like two weeks and they all have finals to grade," she reminded him, "No one loves me that much—especially considering it's a recommendation for a transfer so I can follow my NBA-bound boyfriend. Somehow I don't think my professors are going to be generally supportive of that."

"Hales," Nathan cut in with a meaningful look.

"Okay, okay," she covered another yawn belatedly. "I'll work on it tomorrow. Can I go to sleep now, baby?"

Nathan shook his head, ignoring her startled look. "I figured if you're going to fill out one application, you might as well work on the rest of them too. I've got those three teams and about three more for backup so we need to get cracking."

"We?" Haley mumbled back, surprised when he didn't give in to her requests as always.

He smiled sheepishly, "Okay, you. But I want to help in any way I can, Hales. This whole NBA superstar thing just isn't going to work without you."

"Riding my coattails, Nathan Scott? I'm ashamed," Haley teased, rising from his lap and tugging on his t-shirt. "Come on, lay down with me. I sleep so much better with you and then I can wake up all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to work on those stupid applications."

"I don't really know what that means but sure," Nathan chuckled lightly. He pulled his shirt off and kicked off his jeans before climbing into the bed after her. She turned her face into his chest and mumbled incoherently. "What?" he prodded, slipping his hand under her shirt and gently massaging her back.

"You're seriously making me reconsider sleeping and I am damn tired right now," Haley mumbled tiredly, lips brushing lightly against his bare chest. "Damn you and your hot body, Nathan Scott."

"Jake might be back from his final soon so we'll have to make it quick," he grinned lightning-fast, already trying to slip her shirt off.

Haley slapped at his hands till they were back to their previous position. "I was joking, you freaking exhibitionist," she leaned up to pop a short kiss on his offended pout. "Seriously though? Sleep? Especially with you all cuddly? Sounds amazing right now."

"I'm not cuddly," Nathan mumbled in protest, nose burying in her long strands. His hands resumed their slow massage and she went nearly boneless against him.

Almost an hour and a half later, Jake stumbled through the door, hand hanging limply by his side. The noise startled Nathan from complete relaxation and Haley from her nap. They both mumbled their "hello's" and "how was it's?" before he grunted and collapsed into his own bed, too tired to care what the lovebirds had been up to.

"Were you just watching me sleep?" Haley questioned suspiciously, blearily wiping the sleep from her eyes. Nathan nodded an unabashed "yes" and she patted his cheek fondly, "Creeper."

"Shut up, Hales," Jake grumbled indistinctly into his pillow and they both whispered an apology.

Haley slowly climbed out of bed, reaching for her backpack on the floor. She tossed Nathan his clothes and waited for him to get dressed. "Come on, we can work on these in my room. Crazy Carrie packed up and left this morning. She says bye," Haley teased, ignoring Nathan's rolled eyes and clenched jaw. Haley had been two-for-two on roommates they both got along with but this annoying gnat had been obsessed with him from the get-go, and Nathan made a point to avoid Haley's room at all costs.

"Bye Jakey. Wake up for dinner tonight," she stage-whispered as they crept out the door. He mumbled out an answer and Haley made a mental note to call Jenna to get him. "What were you saying about Stanford?" she asked, leaning heavily against Nathan's side after they'd left the room.

Nathan gave her an incredulous look, "Damn, you must have been really tired. You never forget your sleep conversations." Haley responded with a mere look and he sighed, "Golden State, the team in like Oakland, wants me and they've got a really high pick for the draft. They're about an hour from Stanford so you need to do that transfer application."

"Nathan," Haley began slowly, her own disbelieving look all over her face, "That's great about Golden State but sometimes you think way too highly of me. Do you know how difficult it is to transfer to Stanford? It makes getting in look like a breeze. If that's one of the options, I'm way better off applying to San Francisco State or something."

"No," he stopped her in the hallway, grabbing onto her shoulders. "I mean, you can apply to that other school too, but you better apply to Stanford. Look, this is my shot at my dreams. Stanford was one of your dreams and you deserve your shot at that, too. It's a once in a lifetime chance for both of us. I'm not going to let you settle just because you've got confidence issues for absolutely no reason."

Immediately, she wrapped her arms around his waist hugging him tightly. Nathan responded hesitantly, still unsure when she pulled away from his chest. "I love you. Thank you for believing in me."

"I just want you to be happy, Hales," Nathan replied in confusion. "If you're going to follow me all over this damn country, it's the least I could do. I'd like to think that being with me is all you need for that, but we both know that's not true."

Haley shrugged, pulling him down to her by the shirt collar. She ignored his protests about stretching out his shirt and kissed him hard, only letting go when they were both breathless and panting. "Yeah but you're like 99% of it."

"Samesies," he replied dazed and she paused in disbelief before laughing till her sides hurt.


	25. Family

"Would it help if we were engaged?"

"NO!"

"Yes!"

The room seemed divided in their responses and they shared a worried glance before looking back out at the living room filled with her family. The in-laws were uncomfortably scrunched into a corner and Nathan wanted to slap himself for the perfectly terrible timing they had chosen.

"Ow," he immediately complained, holding the back of his head where Taylor had just delivered a none too light slap. Haley hastily turned his head toward her, checking for any damage. "Hales," Nathan whined, "Come on, I'm fine. Taylor hits like a girl. And by the way what was that for?"

"What have we told you about proposing? You're an idiot! You are not going to _propose_ to my baby sister just to avoid the wrath of our asshole older brothers. Pansy!" Taylor blew out, pushing Haley back onto the couch when she tried to stand and interrupt.

"Listen, you're not getting engaged and you're definitely not getting married," Connor cut in smoothly, abandoning Alyssa's side to stand directly in front of them.

From the other side of the room, Adam raised his voice, "Why not? Following her fiancé or husband across the country or wherever is a hell of a lot better than following her boyfriend."

"Because! What if they break up? Then she's going to need a divorce. And just breaking up with her boyfriend is a hell of a lot better than canceling a wedding or getting a freaking divorce," Connor mocked back, shooting his younger brother a death glare. Adam merely shrugged and took a drink of his beer.

Haley stood and pushed Taylor away from her. "Seriously, just shut up, Tay. I don't care if you mean well," she hissed at the blonde, who retreated with her hands in the air. "That goes for all of you. This has to be the worst weekend ever to do this but it needed to be done. That said, the only people I am going to ask and consult with on this are our parents. The rest of you can butt the hell out!"

"Mom, Dad, Nathan, kitchen now!" she ordered, grabbing Nathan by the hand and dragging him with her.

Lydia and Jimmy, though slightly pale and shocked, shared an amused look, loving how their youngest had just put all of her older siblings in their place.

"Stay," Jimmy commanded with an uneasy smile, glancing meaningfully at his sons. He followed his wife through the door, closing it firmly behind him.

Inside he found his wife staring down their youngest and wrapped a comforting arm around her. "What's this about, Haley Bob? I could barely catch a word with your loud-mouthed siblings in there."

Sighing, she laced her fingers through Nathan's and raised her eyes to meet them squarely. "As you already know," she began calmly, catching the look her mother gave her. "Fine. Okay, Nathan's entering the draft. He's got a really good chance of going top ten and a lot of different teams want him."

"We know that, Haley. We're very proud," Lydia added, tossing a wink Nathan's way as he smiled gratefully.

"Alright, so, none of those teams are on the East Coast and we were thinking of ways to stay together because let's face it, we just don't do very well apart," she gave him a small smile that grew when he lightly kissed her temple. "The easiest solution would be for me to transfer to a school wherever he gets drafted," Haley rushed out, vaguely hoping they didn't hear her clearly and would just agree.

"I see," Jimmy returned thoughtfully, avoiding his wife's concerned gaze. "So this is what your brothers don't like so much? You giving up your life and following Nate to basically anywhere?" he questioned in a flat voice.

Haley sighed exasperated, clutching Nathan's hand tighter. "Daddy, he was going to give up the NBA for me. Okay? Nathan seriously considered withdrawing and staying at Wake with me even though he may never get another shot like this. I'm not some naïve little girl fated to get her heart broken. We love each other and we've been practically living together these past two years. We may not know exactly what we're doing but we know we want to figure it out together."

She didn't protest when Lydia approached and drew her into a tight hug, taking her from Nathan's side.

"I want you to know I meant what I said out there," Nathan began clearing his throat nervously. "I want to marry Haley someday. If us getting engaged will make you more comfortable with it, then I'm ready. I'll go out and get a ring right now," he offered fervently. He ignored the eye roll Haley sent his way and did his best to meet Jimmy's gaze.

"You mean that?" Jimmy questioned levelly. "You're about to go off and make millions. Be on TV every week. Have women throw themselves at you. You're sitting here in my kitchen in Podunk, North Carolina and offering to marry my daughter just to what? Keep her near you?" He ignored Haley's exasperated "Daddy!" with a shake of his head.

"Yes, sir," Nathan responded surely. "I know it's not going to come down to this because you guys love her too much and I love her too much," he took a deep sigh, almost unbelieving he was about to say these words out loud to Haley's parents, "but we're prepared to do this on our own if we have to."

"Is that true?" Lydia cut in with a quiet voice.

Haley drew back slightly and smiled shakily at her mother. "Yes. If you don't want to, or can't, support us, then we understand but that's not…going to stop us. I already turned in the transfer applications to a bunch of schools so it's up to them and up to who wants Nathan." She shrugged lightly, "Like Daddy said, we'll be fine financially in just about any case so it's a matter of your emotional support."

"Coasting on Nathan's coattails?" Jimmy shook his head disparagingly and Haley sent him a dirty look.

"I've never been scared of hard work, Dad. And if Nathan does have to support me for a while, it'll be a loan. I'll start paying him back the moment I'm done with school and working," Haley asserted even as Nathan shook his head 'no'.

"What's mine's yours," he declared gruffly, trying his hardest not to break for the kitchen door.

The silence seemed suffocating for a moment before Lydia broke it again, in the quiet tone Haley had rarely heard from her. "My god, Nathan, what do your parents think of this? Have you talked to them about it?"

Nathan nodded, biting into his bottom lip agitatedly. "Mom's not too happy but she's not acting up or anything about it. She still thinks we're rushing things, moving too quickly. Dad couldn't care less. I'm going to the NBA. I could tell him I cross-dress in my spare time and it wouldn't register with him. Then again he probably trusts Haley more than those stupid skanks who won't let up so I doubt he minds having her along." His eyes widened as he realized what he'd just said to his girlfriend's parents.

Jimmy could hardly contain his smile at the image Nathan had brought to mind. "You're ridiculous, you know that?" he muttered fondly. With a simple look to Lydia, they both nodded and shrugged. "Okay."

"Okay?" Haley repeated as a question, not really understanding what that was supposed to mean.

"Okay," Lydia reiterated, a hand gently running through Haley's hair. "Bob, it'd be no different than if you'd decided to go out-of-state straight out of high school. At least now we know Nathan will be there to look out for you. But I'm going to miss you so much, my baby," she murmured, pressing a long kiss to Haley's forehead.

Nathan heaved a sigh of relief, staring dazedly into the backyard. "Call me old-fashioned, Nate, but we can provide for Haley perfectly fine. Now when you two get married, that'll be a different story," he firmly clasped Nathan's hand in his, smiling when Nathan nodded back surely. "We'll talk about that another time," Jimmy whispered conspiratorially.

With Jimmy and Lydia leading the charge, they made their way back into the living room. The siblings easily read the expressions on their parents' faces and the room devolved into a cacophony of whispers and arguments.

"Wait!" Nathan called, tightly gripping Haley's hand. "Everyone just wait." The wide eyed, panicked look she was giving him was not helping matters at all. "Okay, um, crap. Look, Haley's applied to some really good schools. Stanford included," he threw out for Vivian's sake, "And there's not a doubt in my mind that she'll get in to all of them. I'm sorry you're all upset but I'm not trying to take anything away from her, or make her into someone she isn't, or dumb her down, or whatever. I love Haley just the way she is…and that's why we're doing this. We love each other and we want to be together. So please just try to understand. We're doing the best we can here."

"Shut up, Connor," Haley all but growled before smiling lovingly up at Nathan. "I made this decision on my own, okay? Don't a single one of you dare imply that I don't have my own mind. I love Nathan, I'm proud of everything he's accomplished, and I'm so grateful he wants me by his side for the rest of it. Y'all can shove it if you don't like it."

Her heart sunk when without a word Connor stood and slammed his way out the front door. Alyssa immediately stood to follow him, sending Haley a sympathetic glance, before Nathan stopped her. "Let me," he stated calmly, urging her back into her seat. With a small hand squeeze from Haley, he chased the older man onto the driveway, hyperaware that the James family would undoubtedly be watching.

Connor was simply angrily pacing the sidewalk in front of the house, barely glancing up to acknowledge Nathan's presence. "I'd stay back right now, Scott. I'm not thinking too clearly and I'm sure the last thing you want is a broken anything."

"Get back in that house right now," Nathan demanded with little heat to his voice. "Do you know much you're breaking your little sister's heart?"

"Not as much as you will, superstar," he growled angrily, "when you forget about her on your road trips, or start treating her like some dumb trophy wife, or cheat on her with some skanky groupie, or—"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Nathan shouted. His irritation and breathing had increased with every word out of the eldest James brother's mouth and his fists clenched heavily by his side. "Are you out of your mind?"

"I get it, okay? Haley's practically a saint and I'm a lucky ass SOB to have her," Nathan spoke and Connor nodded along as if to say "Duh." "Look, I'm pretty much worthless without her so I'm not going to do anything to screw this up. I know it seems like I'm getting everything handed to me, the NBA and Hales, but life hasn't really been all that great to me and I know I'm freaking lucky right now. The fact that she's willing to come with me…she's doing it for herself too okay? I hate to bring it up to you but Haley loves me and she wants to be with me. This is her decision. So fucking deal, alright?"

"No," Connor returned simply, reaching for his car door.

Nathan scoffed in disbelief. "Fine, leave. Piss off your sister, your parents, and probably your fiancée. Why? Because Haley was lucky enough to find the guy who wants to be with her forever at 17. Because she doesn't have to put with assholes breaking her heart and treating her like crap. Because you're too stubborn and overprotective to realize that we know what we have and we'll do whatever it takes to keep it."

With a deep sigh, Connor ambled slowly up the driveway. "Just because you talk pretty, Nathan, doesn't mean you can back it up. I still don't trust you with her. But you're right. I leave now and Haley, Alyssa, and Mom will be after me. And I like my balls where they are."

"I know you can't because you have a job and your own life but maybe if you were around more, you'd see it." Connor raised his eyebrows in question and Nathan sighed, "How much we love each other. How much I didn't want her to do this. I'm the one who's going to benefit from this. Barely any of those schools are better than Wake. Haley's not going to…anyway, I already feel like an asshole about her doing this."

Connor simply scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Good."

Nathan could only watch as Connor stormed up the driveway and back into the house. He stayed outside for a moment, watching while Lydia tried to slap his head off. A second later, Haley stepped onto the porch, immediately wrapping her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry about that. Thank you for trying, though. Connor's not normally—"

"It's fine. I'm fine," he cut her off with a shake of his head. "He's just trying to protect you so…you know, whatever. Doesn't bother me. How are you?"

Haley shrugged lightly, sighing when he bent to kiss her forehead. "I'll be alright. He'll come around eventually or Mom will browbeat him into it. He just doesn't understand what we have, which is okay. What we have is special, right? Wouldn't be very special if everyone got it and understood it."

"Sure," Nathan agreed as she burrowed into his shirt. His fingers traced the smooth skin of her arms but he couldn't stop thinking of his last words to Connor.

* * *

Everyone stared in quiet disbelief as the door slammed shut. After a moment, Haley rose to follow him but Lucas held up a hand, "Wait, Hales, let me try."

All eyes followed the blonde while he ascended the mahogany staircase, not even Dan had a word in response. Their eyes flicked back to the television when his name was called and a number of eyebrows rose in surprise. Not even a second later, they heard a thud and another door slam.

Lucas sheepishly descended the stairs, a hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Hales," he called almost pathetically. She immediately bolted for the staircase, unaware that Lucas collapsed into an armchair and ignored the "Why'd you even bother?" look from Dan.

"Hello there, future NBA superstar. Whatever are you up to?" Haley tried for a light tone as she quietly shut the door behind her. Nathan lay in his bed, feet now dangling off the end, and stared blankly at his ceiling. "Nathan?" she called slightly panicked and he stretched an arm out toward her.

Haley settled onto the bed with him, leg thrown over his. "Number five. Oklahoma City. That means University of Oklahoma for me." He merely nodded so she took his chin forcefully, pulling it her way, "You need to say something. Now."

"This wasn't how it was supposed to go," Nathan muttered quietly and Haley resisted rolling her eyes. Of course this wasn't what they had planned. The number one pick went as expected but the Pistons had surprisingly gone with a different player, leaving Golden State to grab who should have been the number two pick. The Clippers, in desperate need of an inside man, chose the best center of the class, and Oklahoma City eagerly snatched up Nathan Scott.

"Isn't Oklahoma City better? You said almost all the players should have developed over the off season and they're almost guaranteed to make the playoffs," Haley rattled off. She had little to no idea what it meant but Nathan, Lucas, and Dan had said it enough over the last few weeks.

Nathan sighed heavily, "It's not about that, Hales. I really don't care where I play or for what team. Basketball's basketball and if I'm the player I'm supposed to be, we'd be at the playoffs in a few years anyway. OU's not where you're supposed to go. I get the NBA and you get Stanford; that was the deal. Now what the hell do you get out of following me to Oklahoma?"

Her head pulled back in shock and she blinked blankly at him for a few seconds. Nathan instantly regretted the words that fell out of his mouth but was unprepared for the sharp shove to his shoulder. "Excuse me?"

"I thought I was getting the love of my life but, well, you're not him," Haley muttered, glad when he finally began to show some Nathan-isms, namely scoffing derisively and rolling his eyes. "Do you not get it? I really have to spell this out for you? I don't work without you around either. Have you ever asked Kara what it was like to live with me? If we hadn't gotten back together when we had, I wouldn't have been surprised if she just snapped and took me out one day."

"All I did was talk about you, stare at pictures of you, call our friends and ask about you. I basically couldn't function. I mean, they put up with it and dragged me out with them but I was pretty much pathetic. Just be glad you're pretty because Kara totally would have killed me if you weren't so much fun to look at," Haley nervously ran a hand through her hair as Nathan stared on in complete astonishment.

"I know you think I'm independent and everything but that's because I have you. Knowing you're behind me every step of the way, loving me and supporting me, that's what gives me the strength and confidence to do…whatever it is I'm doing. This move isn't just about you, okay? I need you just as much as you need me. So wherever you are? That's where I'm going to be," she finished her short speech, watching anxiously as he continued to stare at his ceiling, "Nathan?"

"Do you think anyone would mind if we had sex here and now? We never did cross this bedroom off our list and we're going to be moving soon so—" he couldn't even finish before she slanted her lips over his, effectively cutting off his laughter.

Ignoring his previous remarks, Haley pulled back slightly, "I love you. Are you happy?"

"Are you trying to brainwash me to say 'yes' every time you ask if I'm happy by saying I love you before? Because it's kind of working," Nathan smirked, wincing when she pinched his arm. "Yes, I am. You make me extremely happy and getting the NBA…it's more than I deserve."

"You might want to do something jackass-ish later. That was pretty cheesy of you," Haley teased, unmindful when he sat up and lifted her off the bed in his arms.

"Hah, I'm just glad it's only the family here. As if Dad doesn't already think I'm a pansy about you," he scoffed, setting her on her feet at the top of the stairs. "Can we just pretend this never happened?"

Haley could only imagine if he had this kind of reaction at Madison Square Garden. Nathan hadn't wanted anyone but her around, but she'd forced a compromise with only his closest family at Dan's house. Their friends would be joining them at Karen's Café for a celebratory party later that night. Of the other former teammates in the draft, one was at home in Indiana and the other was at the actual ceremony in New York so most of the team would be driving over from summer classes at Wake. Jenna, currently passing the time with visiting Quinn, had driven up from Georgia earlier in the week.

"I'll never mention it again, well, unless you piss me off. I don't know about everyone else," Haley answered, clutching his hand that rested on her shoulder.

They finally finished walking down the stairs, finding everyone else attempting to pay attention to the rest of the draft. "James went to Chicago," Lucas announced nonchalantly when they noticed the two standing in the room.

The phone rang suddenly and Dan merely rolled his eyes before yanking the cord out of the phone's base. "Here," he muttered, tossing a Thunder's t-shirt and hat to Nathan. He pulled the fitted cap on his head and nudged Haley until she raised her arms and he could slip the t-shirt over her outfit.

"Alright, what'd we miss?" Nathan questioned, urging Haley onto his lap. The room stared at him in disbelief, waiting for any reaction larger and happier than the one he'd just had. "What?" he mumbled to their disbelieving expressions.

"Jerk," Haley poked his side before turning to them with a huge smile. "He's happy." She immediately shrieked when Lucas all but jumped on them and she ended up in the middle of a Scott brothers sandwich. She managed to wriggle her way out and laughed heartily at the discomforted look on Nathan's face as he was hugged tightly by Lucas.

* * *

The party was just beginning. A few of the players had already arrived and had begged to watch the draft in one of the local sports bars, promising they wouldn't start anything. Nathan had gone to get them as Karen went to open the cafe and Haley went to save Jenna from Quinn's clutches. For some reason, she seemed to believe the younger girl was an appropriate sounding board for her relationship issues.

"Oh my god," Karen muttered from behind the counter as the rest of the team arrived. It wasn't so much the number of them—they were all sharing rooms at Dan's and Deb's for the night—but the height and mass of them. Haley knew there were less than fifteen coming but they seemed to take up half the cafe. She merely nodded at Karen's expression of horror before turning when someone called her name.

Haley immediately knelt to hold out her arms to the little boy running her way and gave him a hug. "Hi, Matt!" she looked up at his two parents with sheer surprise, "I didn't know you guys were coming."

"We're just stopping by," Catherine West answered with a smile, "We're on our way to the Outer Banks, Deb called to drop us an invitation, and we just couldn't say 'no' to a little detour." The older woman immediately and happily began to chat while her husband and Matt glanced around the room, obviously looking for Nathan.

"Oh gosh, hold on, let me find Nathan for Matt if you have to get going" she bowed out quickly. It'd be a few more hours of driving and the sun was nearly down. "I'm sorry it's so chaotic. The boys," Haley waved her hand in the general direction of the towering giants, "just got here and it's a little insane." She flagged down Deb and Karen who were down the counter and hoisted Matt into her arms as the adults began the introductions.

"You're getting heavy for this, bud," she grimaced as her arms began to ache.

"I know," the eight year old replied sagely, glancing down to where his feet dangled in close proximity to the floor.

"I should probably let you down, huh?" Haley questioned, laughing gently. "Alright but hold my hand. It's like a forest in here," she muttered and squeezed her way through some bodies. She figured he'd be right in the thick of it all and was right.

Nathan noticed as they entered the semicircle that had formed around him and gave a smile to Matt who was clutching Haley's hand. He quickly tugged free and ran to Nathan. The older players greeted him out of recognition while the younger ones stared on in slight confusion. Their heads swiveled from Nathan to the boy to Haley.

"Yep, he's ours," Haley announced proudly, smirking when eyebrows shot up and jaws dropped. "I'm kidding, guys," she held her hands up innocently after no one responded for a minute, "We did not have a kid when we were like 12. Come on now." Most of them shared a chuckle while the rest of the players breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Can I borrow him for a minute? Some family friends just dropped by and they have to get going soon," she questioned quickly. The guys agreed easily and fell into their own conversations as they followed Matt back to his parents.

"So the Wests are here?" Nathan murmured, dropping his mouth close to her ear.

"Just the parents and Matt," she was fast to reassure him. Haley was certain Nathan didn't want Damien anywhere near his celebration party. "Are you alright? You looked a little... she turned her head to view his completely relaxed and easygoing expression if not a little confused, "Never mind. Must be me."

The Wests were quick to take off again, much to Matt's disappointment. They walked the family outside where Nathan promised Matt tickets to every game they had at Charlotte and waved off the absolutely packed car.

Haley wrapped her arms around his solid middle when Nathan furrowed his brow, "I haven't seen Jake or Jenna yet."

"Ah, right, they're making out in the back corner. I'm sure they'll come up for air sometime, soon, maybe," Haley muttered. Nathan cursed under his breath and she let out an amused laugh, "What?"

"Wish I could be doing that," he smirked down at her. When the chuckle or pinch he expected didn't come, he glanced back down, "What?"

Haley opened and closed her mouth a few times and they paused outside the cafe door. "Is something wrong? It seems like something's wrong but I can't put my finger on it."

"Since when do you not know exactly what I'm thinking, Haley James?" Nathan joked, a hand already pulling the door open.

He was surprised when he felt her hand cover his, pushing the door back closed. "Right now, and to be honest it's kind of freaking me out. Will you please tell me what's going on?"

Nathan immediately pulled her to the side of the building, away from the windows and people inside. "Look, I'm just...I'm a little nervous about the NBA. Expectations are kind of high. Scouting reports are one thing but actually playing against and with guys with this much experience and talent?" He gave a small shrug, "I'm just worried."

"Oh," she murmured before leaning up and pressing her lips to his. "Well, there's nothing you can do about it right now so seriously just relax and celebrate. And complete lack of basketball knowledge aside, I have no doubt you're going to kick all kinds of ass in the NBA. You're just as talented and the experience? It'll come so stop worrying. You don't need to psyche yourself out before the game even starts."

Nathan smiled at her analogy, sports for once, and dropped a kiss on her nose then her lips. "Thanks, baby. You always know what to say."

Haley returned the smile and watched him saunter back into the cafe, the renewed confidence rolling off him in waves. That was one problem solved. If only she could figure out what else was occupying his mind.


	26. Final

Um, yeah, school. Apologies. On with it then. Epilogue after this and a couple of long future one-shots.

* * *

"Hey," he knocked on the kitchen door frame and winced at seeing Taylor sitting on a barstool next to Haley. Really? Of all her sisters to be home? "Can I talk to you?" Nathan pushed, ignoring the blonde entirely.

"Tay?" Haley edged. They hadn't been fighting, one of the rare instances, but she knew her sister would offer her opinion regardless of whether or not it was asked for.

She smirked and opened her mouth, ready with a sharp comment if hadn't been for Haley's sharper glare. "Fine, I'll be in my room for when you break up with the NBA wannabe. Have fun in Oklahoma, Nate. Good riddance." They both rolled their eyes on cue and heaved a small sigh of relief when she stomped up the stairs.

"Hi," Haley immediately went to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I thought you were leaving tonight?"

"Yeah, well, Luke wants to come and he's not done with practice yet. Dad pushed the flight to tomorrow," he sighed, pressing a kiss to her hair. "And I asked him to stall for me."

"Stall? What the hell for, Nathan?" She pulled back worriedly and lightly punched him in the shoulder.

Nathan sighed again. Dan had been complaining that all he'd done was mope around when he should have been celebrating. "I talked to my agent last night after the party. I asked him to talk to Golden State again."

At that, she slugged him in the stomach. "Are you kidding me? You've got to drop whatever misguided sense of...I don't even know what that you've got going on. This is ridiculous. So what if I don't go to Stanford? I wasn't going to Stanford to begin with. It's not like I'm missing out on anything."

"You could be! You don't know that," Nathan argued back, still rubbing over where she'd hit him. "You deserve better. I have a chance to help you with that."

"You deserve this," Haley corrected with a harsh glare. "And I have the opportunity to support you in getting it. Why can't you just get it through your thick-ass skull? This isn't about what we miss out on by being together. It's about what we gain, you stupid ass."

Nathan just shook his head as she continued to curse him out under her breath. He was taken aback when she jammed her hand into his back pocket, only to pull out his cell phone. Without another word, she took off running up the stairs. He gave chase but with the headstart she'd gained and the fact that she had one of the first rooms, Haley managed to slam and lock her door in his face.

"Haley! Damn it! What are you even doing?" He slammed his fist on the door, wincing when a small crack could be heard from the wooden panel. A throat cleared across the hall and Nathan rolled his eyes instinctively.

"Is there a reason you're trying to huff and puff and blow the house down?" Taylor leaned against her own doorway, barely hiding the smirk. "What'd little sis do this time?"

"Stole my damn phone," Nathan gritted out, hushing Taylor when he thought he could hear Haley through the door. "Don't ask."

"Is this about Stanford?" she stated rather than questioned. When he glared at her, Taylor merely rolled her eyes. "I'm a bitch. I'm not stupid. What'd _you_ do?"

She sighed when he didn't volunteer an answer. "Okay, Nathan. Listen. Haley doesn't want Stanford. She wants you...for some weird reason. You've got to stop trying to run her life because obviously all it's doing is pissing her off. And even though it amuses me, it's probably not good for your relationship."

"Haley's never been about brand names, okay? Not in high school and not now. I know you think Stanford is a really big deal to her and once upon a time it was. But she's got different priorities now. Whatever edge people get from going to schools like Stanford? Haley's already got it. In case you haven't noticed, baby sis is pretty awesome all by herself. Stop doubting her."

The door swung open and Haley stepped out, slamming the phone into his chest. "I talked to your agent. He now knows better than to listen to your delusional, possibly drunken, ramblings. Oklahoma City it is. Luke is coming home early from practice so go get your ass on that plane."

"Love you too," he grumbled, rolling his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak again but Haley pressed a light hand over his heart and shot a harsh look over his shoulder.

"What do you want, Taylor?" she questioned suspiciously.

"I love watching relationships implode," Taylor responded with a quick grin. "It's when they explode that I get the hell out. Bye, guys."

Haley rolled her eyes before giving him an apologetic smile, lightly massaging where she'd pushed his phone. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that. You just make me so mad sometimes."

"Same here," Nathan scoffed, rubbing a hand over his tired face. "I already told you. I don't like seeing you make sacrifices for me."

"Doesn't feel like a sacrifice," she replied readily. "Come here. I was going to wait to give you this but..." Haley trailed off, leading him into her room by the hand.

Nathan dropped onto her bed, a slight smirk on his lips, "What else could you possibly wait to give me?"

"Shut up, perv," she tossed a small velvet box at him, sighing when he had to stretch across the bed to grab it. "Sorry."

He pried open the box to find a class ring shining back at him. "I'm not graduating Hales."

"I know that but who cares?" She immediately took a seat when he patted his lap. "You loved that school, you loved our friends, you loved your teammates and your coaches, you loved our life there. I know you would have been so proud to have graduated. It's not much of a sacrifice, you know, giving up college life for the NBA. But it's still a chapter of your life that's closing and you should have something to show for it."

"I know you don't really get it. I mean, this _is_ your childhood dream come true but dreams do change, Nathan. Mine have. I never once dreamed of having a relationship like we do but I wouldn't change it for the world. In fact, my Prince Charming looked a lot like TJ from next door. On that note, I think I'm just going to g—."

She began to rise to her feet and only chuckled when he tightened his grip around her waist, keeping her steadily against his chest.

"I don't need, or even want, everything I used to dream about. It's really sweet you want me to have it all but...where I go to school? It's not something I care about much anymore. I know that doesn't make sense and I'm not being very clear. It's just that where I am physically doesn't hold much weight for me anymore. If you don't understand that, fine. Just accept it so we can move on."

Nathan gave a heavy sigh that she immediately rolled her eyes at. "Look, I get that you want to do this for me and I appreciate it, more than you know. It's just that...whenever we'd talk during high school, Stanford was your dream. I feel like you already put it on hold when you chose to go to Wake and I hate that I'm getting what I want and you aren't—again."

"I'm sure Stanford would be great but it's not end game. You are. What I need and _want_, Nathan, is for you to stop second-guessing that. I know you don't really think about these things because basketball is just that to you. Basketball. But if Oklahoma hears about this, if your teammates hear about this, it's going to affect how they treat you. No one appreciates being second best. You were their first choice and now it's like you're shopping around for another team. It's not going to be pretty if word gets out, babe." Haley patted his cheek fondly when he grimaced at the pet name. "Basically, you have to stop being Mr. Sensitive and just take the silver platter. Oh, and you have to go home. Your flight leaves in about two hours."

"Fine." He tossed her off his lap and onto the mattress, ignoring her indignant yelling. "Thank you for the ring. It's a great gift, Hales, the perfect memento of our time at Wake."

Haley just smiled indulgently before replying, "I know." Nathan laughed and gave her a deep kiss that lasted until she'd pushed him out the room and nearly down the stairs.

"There is an insane number of adult superstores along the I-40."

"Really?" Nathan drawled with a smirk. Using one hand, he pulled her onto his lap and watched the predicted blush as she realized that his agent and father were also sitting in the hotel lobby and within hearing range. "You go in any?"

Trying to shake off the blush, Haley laughed, "Nope. But Lucas did."

"Shut it, Hales," the blonde complained, dropping her and his duffel bags by the armchair. "I just wanted to see. You weren't even brave enough to go in with me. When I came back out, she was crouched in her seat with a jacket over her."

The blush refused to die and she nearly toppled out of Nathan's lap trying to kick at Lucas. "People were staring, okay? It got weird. And you lasted all of two minutes in there before running back out."

"Let's just drop it," Lucas mumbled, collapsing onto a nearby couch.

"How was the drive?" Nathan questioned. He fought hard to keep the bitter tinge out of his voice but by Haley's glare he didn't succeed.

After Haley had finally convinced him to stick with Oklahoma, Lucas had panicked, realizing that his best friend was about to move out of the state and possibly for good. The older Scott had monopolized Haley's time as best he could, citing a specific Best Friend List they needed to complete. Nathan was left to his own devices, even for a trip they'd planned together when he needed to meet with the team and staff and she wanted to look around the University and find a place for them to live. A road trip had been number 841 or something on Lucas' list. So while he got on a plane to Oklahoma City, they'd spent nearly three days driving in a brand new car Dan insisted they borrow from the dealership.

"Do you know where the world's largest guitar is?" Luke asked dryly. Nathan only shook his head in response. "Bristol, Tennessee. How about the world's largest charcoal grill? Or the world's larg—"

"Let's just drop it," Haley groused, slouching her shoulders against Nathan's laughing chest. "What have you been up to?" she changed the topic easily and even Lucas perked up to hear the latest.

"Met with the general manager this morning, got a workout in with the strength and conditioning coach, and management gave me a list of apartment complexes and stuff to look at. We can do that this afternoon or tomorrow if you want. They gave me the number of a realtor, too, if we need help," he rattled off, nodding at Dan, who gestured that he was going upstairs. "Actually, they were going to set me up with a place but when I said we'd be living together, they figured we'd want to pick our own."

"Apartments?" Haley perked up immediately, "Luke, do you want to come?"

With a quick shake of his head, he rolled awkwardly off the couch he'd collapsed on. "No thanks, Hales. I don't know where you get the energy," he joked.

"Probably because she made you drive the entire way," Nathan guessed accurately. "Meet us down here for dinner at six. Some of the team invited us out," he informed before Lucas grabbed his bag from the floor and disappeared upstairs, leaving them with the keys to the car. "He's going to have dinner with a bunch of NBA players and he's too tired to even care. What'd you do to him?"

Haley dragged him off the couch and towards the main entrance, asking a bellhop to drop off her bag in Nathan's room. "Nothing," she replied innocently, "much. You would have been able to keep up with me."

His response was a deep chuckle, "Damn straight."

"Holy shit, just pick one already," Nathan grumbled under his breath. The real estate agent shot him an understanding look, as if it was solely her commission keeping her from running far, far away from them. "Hales?" he called, losing her in the sizable condo.

The first three "apartments" they'd been to had been monstrosities with too much space for a traveling NBA player and a full-time student. All three had been bigger than the first floor of his family home, and if he hadn't seen them with his own eyes, he'd never believe something that extravagant existed in the Midwest. The agent had finally understood that she was going to lose the commission entirely if she didn't bring them to more reasonable locations, and since then Haley had found fault with five places.

"This one!" Haley yelled, using his voice as a makeshift game of Marco Polo. "It's perfect. Okay, a little big, I did just get lost," she shrugged, rounding the corner. Nathan could only roll his shoulders in exasperation. "But it's almost exactly halfway between school and the stadium. So you know perfect." The agent practically sagged in relief and quickly made arrangements for them to sign the paperwork the next day.

"Do you think we could have a minute?" Haley questioned and she promised to be outside at the car when they were ready to leave. "So three bedrooms: master, study room for me, and gym for you."

Nathan nodded agreeably, looking around with some anticipation. They were standing in a recently built but even more recently remodeled small single family home. It wasn't exactly what he had in mind for future NBA stardom, but the master takes up the entire upper floor and comes equipped with a fireplace and monstrous Jacuzzi bathtub. He was sold after that. He supposed the downstairs was also large enough for any of their other needs, as Haley pointed out. Back to the problem at hand then.

Nathan quirked an eyebrow and sighed, "You're sure about this? We can look at other places later if you're not."

"No, I'm not sure about this!" she burst out, "I grew up sharing a room with Taylor. It took Connor, Viv, _and_ Adam leaving for college before we got separate ones. And I just spent the last two years sharing a 13 by 13 foot room with another person. I have no idea what to do with space, but it's smaller than any of the others and the location is great. So, yeah, I guess this is it."

He grabbed her by the shoulders and knelt slightly to look her in the eye. "Is this where you want to be? Will you be happy here?"

Haley gave him a brilliant smile in response. "You, me, us, this. Being at least as happy as I am right now and with you. That's where I always want to be in life, Nathan."

Nathan hugged her tight in relief, squishing her face into his chest till she squirmed away. "Awesome. Me too. Can we eat now? You've worn me out."

"But this is just the beginning," she enthused, giving him a wide smile and pressing her lips to his.

He smiled fondly down at her and allowed her to pull away and drag him out the door. The agent looked slightly relieved to see them emerge and he can only imagine what she thought they were getting up to in there.

Quickly, he glanced back at the house, wondering if he should ask about an option other than leasing. But, no, the place wouldn't be big enough for what he had planned: a boy and a girl just like her mom. Besides, this time, he was keeping her dreams in mind.


	27. Golden

As implied by the working title "Destinations" and the longer, "artistic" version, sometimes things need an endpoint, Mark Schwahn. Like—and I'm not speaking from personal experience—the journey to the North Pole is probably cold, bitter, damaging, unending, mind numbing, and physically painful until you actually get to the North Pole. Payoff is what motivates people. So if you read this last chapter of fluff, an epilogue of sorts, you will be paid in seeing your two (most likely) favorite characters experience all their dreams come true (No, that's not a spoiler. This fanfic has been an abuse of the term "fluff". Happily ever after was never not in the cards.). That's why we sat through years of me writing this thing, right? Do people title epilogues?

Epilogue: Golden

"Okay, so do you think I could just start telling people were engaged?"

Nathan looked up from the TV and dropped the remote from where it'd been hovering in the air as he channel surfed. An eyebrow rose at his girlfriend's chosen method of greeting and he immediately stood to help when he saw the wrapped frames she was tugging inside the door.

"We don't actually need to be. I'm just really sick of all the looks I'm getting whenever people beat the reason I go here out of me. Normally, it's a mix of 'oh you poor naïve thing' and 'how stupid are you' but the weirdest response, by far, was the person who assumed my parents were fame-whoring me out to you. Which I wouldn't put it entirely past Mom and Dad but who actually says these kinds of things out loud?"

Her ramble went in one ear and out the other as he hoisted the frames inside. He really had no clue how she managed even to lift them out of her car. "What are these?"

"Oh. Your crap. Crap to go on our walls. You know what I mean," she waved offhandedly. Rather than explain, Haley ripped the protective paper off one of the frames and gave a Ta-dah! pose. "See? Crap to go on the walls."

And by crap, she meant framed collages of his basketball photos that she and Deb had meticulously organized while he was away on a team visit. Then there were the framed jerseys of every team he'd ever played for, dating back to his days on the Junior league. It'd been a struggle for Dan to relinquish them but he would be glad to know it was worth the look on Nathan's face.

Nathan grabbed her in a tight hug, lifting her to his height. "Thanks, baby," he murmured, pressing his lips to hers.

Haley immediately reciprocated and smiled wide, "You're welcome, baby." She smacked her lips against his once more before wiggling to her feet. He watched amused as she threw her bag to the side and headed for the storage closet. "Come on, get a hammer and let's get these up. I know exactly where each one is going."

"Of course you do," he chuckled easily, "Hales, I don't think we own a hammer."

She frowned as she exited the nearly empty closet. "Right, you're kind of useless with that stuff." Her eyes rolled at his slightly offended expression but she had been understating the truth.

There was a reason she'd spent the summer arranging furniture deliveries and the like for their townhouse. Well, his technically, but he and everyone else called what was his theirs and she'd gotten used to it. After all, it was closer to the university since the neighborhoods around the campus were a little nicer and neither of them knew the first thing about living in a downtown/city environment.

"You're in a good mood. You know, for being belittled and called a famewhore and everything," he added, amused when her nose scrunched in disgust. "Anything good happen today? Other than you having a full day of classes because you're a huge nerd who chose to go to more school after finishing college." Nathan smirked at her equally insulted face before laughing.

"I've always been like this, mister. You knew exactly what you were getting into when you started dating me. It's not my fault you didn't end up with some soul-sucking supermodel or the like," she muttered, ignoring his hand and dropping onto the opposite side of the couch.

Nathan reached over and dragged her feet into his lap, letting out a deep chuckle, "Well, as long as she can su—"

"Hey!" she cut in quickly. The glare came easily even as he dissolved into laughter and couldn't finish his words.

He pulled himself together and finally maneuvered the rest of her next to him, "Don't worry, baby, nobody takes care of me like you do." Paying heed to her 'cut it out' expression, he sighed exaggeratedly, "What happened?"

Immediately, a grin lit up her face. He half-expected her to start bouncing and clapping her hands. "The library smells the same!" Haley sighed when his expression went from one of faked happiness to absolute confusion. "The same as OU's and Wake's and Tree Hill's," she explained, head falling to the back of the couch when she still got nothing from him.

"Don't they all smell the same? Like old books and dust?" Nathan questioned with a grimace.

"Okay, boy who just needs a basketball and a hoop to feel at home anywhere," Haley muttered disparagingly as something close to realization flickered across his face. "It's just something that's...comforting I guess."

"The library smelling the same makes you feel better about being away from home?" he tried unsurely, each word sounding more hesitant than the last.

Haley rolled her eyes before grabbing his chin and pushing a kiss to his lips. "No, dummy, you're my home," she sighed, smiling lightly at his smile. "It was a pleasant surprise. Considering how much time I'm going to be spending there."

"Oh right," Nathan murmured, "I never did understand your—well, and Luke's—fascination with libraries."

"Yeah, and I never understood your—well, and Luke's—fascination with basketball," Haley mocked back easily, squealing when he merely tickled her. "And you said you understood about libraries that one time."

Nathan was quick to smirk, "You mean that one time when we couldn't get more than a minute alone and then went to the library and got in a good hour of uninterrupted making out. You're wondering why I said I liked the library after that?"

"You're a little perverted today," Haley noted calmly with a small scoff.

"You and the library. You studying. It inspires some sexy thoughts," his smirk grew at the imagery even as she pinched him, rolled her eyes, _and _scoffed at him. "Multitasker," he accused with a laugh.

Haley pressed a quick kiss to his lips, "That's the nicest thing you've said to me in days. Anyway, you playing basketball? Better yet, you playing basketball shirtless? That's sexy times. Yet somehow me studying in a place that smells like old books and dust is sexy to you?"

He gave a shrug, "Definitely. Somehow, with you, it all fits. You found my weak spot early. I don't think I would have known if you hadn't shown me the light. All the other—" Nathan hurriedly closed his mouth and glanced around the room innocently, as if he hadn't started saying anything else.

Haley bit back the grin and pulled out the disapproving frown. He was just asking for it. "Like I need the reminder that I have all your groupies to contend with. Stupid California bleach blondes. You wouldn't think there aren't that many at Stanford but I encountered a good number who were being jealous hussies."

Ignoring the bait, Nathan shrugged and simply said, "You used to be blonde."

"Is that supposed to be a hint?" Her voice had an edge to it and his safe, peaceful expression dropped off.

"A hint that you used to be blonde? Sure. Hell, you're a natural blonde, too. I've seen the baby pictures. You've got to be the only girl I know who actually dyes her hair dark," he shut his mouth and chanced a glance at her expression.

Haley merely raised an eyebrow delicately.

Nathan sighed, pressing a kiss to her aforementioned hair. "I just mean for a girl who isn't very girly, you're really picky about your hair."

"Things you find hypocritical about your girlfriend. Nice." Haley almost chuckled out loud. His 'oh shit' expression was nothing short of hilarious and had been for this entire tangent.

"My fiancée. That is what you plan on telling people right? How's that going to work?" he questioned quickly. The earlier confidence of being able to match Haley's comebacks wore off sooner than he expected.

She opened her mouth to respond before closing it and leveling him with a look. "You almost pulled that off," Haley marveled with a chuckle. "Don't worry I know I'm being ridiculous, but it's just so much fun when you're the one sticking your foot in your mouth. By the way, the plan started and ended with the inevitable question "So why'd you choose this graduate program?" and me responding with "Oh you know Golden State Warrior Nathan Scott? Yes, the one who was traded from Oklahoma City. He's my fiancé." And some variation of "In your face! What now!""

Nathan quickly stifled a laugh, "Glad to know you're that excited about me being your fiancé."

"Of course, I plan on it being in my life's Top Ten moments," Haley retorted with a smile. "Better bring out the big guns, mister."

"I'll keep that in mind," he grinned and thought for a moment, "You realize to pull this off you're going to need a ring?"

"Oh yeah," Haley frowned before holding out her right hand, "I can use this one. And this way I won't be lying if I just say you gave me this." She glanced down fondly on the ring he'd given her while she'd been abroad.

Shaking his head, Nathan protested, "No, no way. What did I already say about that ring, Haley?"

"Oh come on. It's not like you're actually proposing with it. And I like this ring," she raised her eyebrows in defiance and waited for his response.

"Well, yeah I know you do, but people are going to think I'm cheap. That's not the ring a NBA player gets for the woman he's going to marry. Come on, Hales," he whined needlessly. Even he knew it was a weak excuse. It didn't matter how much the thing was or wasn't going to set him back as long as she loved it.

Haley managed to both sigh and laugh at him, "It's a hypothetical situation, Nathan. Besides it's not like I have anything more expensive to use. In case you haven't noticed, I don't own much jewelry and most of what I do have, you've given to me so I don't really know what you want me to do about that."

Shifting her off his lap, he pulled them to their feet. "Wait a minute, I saw something in your drawer the other day." Haley could only follow as he wandered into their bedroom, trampling over the wrapping from the frames.

"Well, whatever it was, it's probably the equivalent of costume jewelry," she pointed out, leaning against the doorway to watch him search.

Nathan struggled for a moment, his large hands scrunched in the small bedside drawer. "Here it is," he proclaimed, pulling out a box she'd never seen before and handing it to her.

Haley eyed him suspiciously as she uncrossed her arms to take it from him. His smile stretched wide when she began to ease the box open. "Will this work?" he arched an expectant eyebrow, grunting slightly when she tackled him to the ground.

"Yes!"

Her grip on the box was lost while they kissed furiously. "Hey," Nathan panted, sometime after she'd worked his shirt off. "What about the ring? Aren't you excited for it?"

"No, I'm excited about marrying you. Though I can't really believe you hid my engagement ring in my drawer," Haley replied matter-of-fact, but she stretched over to where it'd been knocked under the bed. "Since you asked..." she trailed off, slipping the ring and its sizable adornment onto her finger.

They both stared for a moment, letting the feeling that everything had changed sink in. "Top Ten?" Nathan asked with a knowing smirk.

Haley beamed back at him, thumb rubbing over the unfamiliar but welcome metal against the palm side of her finger. "Definitely. Somehow, with you, it all fits."


End file.
